


Tiffany Pemberton and the Boggart Problem

by Grace_Sparrow



Series: Tiffany Pemberton and the Cursed Vaults [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Boggarts, Cursed Vaults, Duelling, Friendship, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Swearing, Third Person POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-06-17 14:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15463656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Sparrow/pseuds/Grace_Sparrow
Summary: Tiffany Pemberton returns to Hogwarts after triumphantly defeating the Vault of Ice. Her brother, Jacob Pemberton, is still missing, but she's not going to give up yet.





	1. Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour

The window seats in Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour are rather tall, and Tiffany has to hand her peanut butter ice-cream to Rowan so that she can climb up onto it. She feels a bit like a child, but still can’t resist the urge to swing her legs as her feet seem to be miles off the ground.

 

“So I have some theories about that book and the wand you found in the Ice Vault.” Rowan says, handing back Tiffany’s ice cream. “Can I see the wand, by the way?”

 

Tiffany is too busy licking her ice cream to reply, but she does use her free hand to put the two halves of the wand on the table. Rowan picks it up, and studies it for a brief moment.

 

“The wood is maple, but I don’t know enough about wand cores to figure out anything else.” Rowan says after a pause.

 

“Maple wood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches.” Tiffany eventually comments once she’s certain her ice cream isn’t about to melt over her fingers. “That’s what Ollivander said Jacob’s wand was when I got mine.”

 

“You have a good memory!” Rowan comments, sounding surprised.

 

“I try to remember everything I can about Jacob.” Tiffany says. “How else will I find clues to where he is?”

 

“Well, I don’t know how helpful his broken wand will be, but I hope for his sake he’s managed to find another one to use.” Rowan says carefully. Tiffany is sure Rowan doesn’t believe Jacob to be alive, but doesn’t like to admit that to Tiffany’s face. It’s a good thing too; Tiffany has had many shouting matches with her own mother on this very topic, and even though Rowan is her best friend she’s willing to argue with her on this too.

 

“Any thoughts about the book?” Tiffany asks.

 

“Not anything I can confirm until we go back to Hogwarts.”

 

“It’s probably Jacob’s too.” Tiffany reasons. “Bill said the scribbles look like they were done by a mad man, but Jacob wasn’t exactly… artistic.”

 

“Is he better or worse at drawing than you?”

 

“Oh piss off.” Tiffany smiles, despite the insult.

* * *

Once they finish their ice creams, Rowan having to scrub at her mouth thoroughly to make herself presentable, they head outside onto the street. Diagon Alley is much quieter than what Tiffany is used too, but then she supposes that no one has their school supply lists yet, and so the normal school rush hasn’t started. Tiffany and Rowan are on their way to the local sweetshop when something catches their eye; the papers on display outside the Daily Prophet offices. Tiffany picks one up, slightly horrified at the headline.

 

_Pesky Pemberton!_

_Saviour of Hogwarts, or troublemaker?_

_By Rita Skeeter._

“Hey!” Tiffany snaps, when Rowan tugs it out of her grasp. “I was reading that!”

 

“Somehow I don’t think you want to read this, Tiffany.” Rowan reasons. “How does Skeeter even know all this stuff anyway?”

 

“What?”

 

“She’s written about you breaking the ice curse, but this is really in detail, most of it correct!” Rowan exclaims. “Although not the forbidden romance bit, I hope.”

 

“Romance?”

 

“Don’t worry about it!”

* * *

Floo is by far Tiffany’s least favourite mode of transport. She chokes on ash as she tumbles into her living room, already aware that her next task would be to hoover the soot covered floor. Tiffany pushes herself back to her feet, and dusts herself off, blinking to clear her vision. The house seems suspiciously quiet. She makes her way through to the dining room, and grimaces. There’s a copy of the Daily Prophet left on the table in clear view. She groans, and considers throwing at away, but knows that her parents have likely already read it.

 

“Tiffany.”

 

“Hello, Mama!” Tiffany tries to smile innocently. “How are you?”

 

“Would you like to explain yourself?”

 

“Rita Skeeter really isn’t a reliable source, Mama. I wouldn’t take what she says seriously.”

 

“I had a letter saying you broke school rules, but breaking the curse on a Cursed Vault? Tiffany, what were you thinking?”

 

“I was thinking…” Tiffany trails off, wandering what the best course of action is right now. “That…” Her brain is supplying nothing helpful. “It would be fun?”

 

“Tiffany?”

 

“Yes, Mama?”

 

“Go to your room.”

 

Tiffany scowls, but doesn’t complain as she stomps her way to her room, slamming the door as loudly as she can once she reaches it. Her mother is shouting at her about her ‘attitude’, but Tiffany tunes it out in favour of putting music on. She plonks herself down at her desk where it seems her parents have left a few letters addressed to her.

 

One is a letter from Charlie (and Bill) telling her that him and his brothers are spending the summer holidays with their Aunt in Cornwall, and there’s another from Andre telling her about his new Pride of Portree poster. Finally, there’s a letter from Penny, unusually short from the girl who begged her to write over the summer. Then again, Penny is likely just busy.

 

Tiffany gets to work replying, not letting her friends know about how she’s likely going to be grounded for the second summer running, but telling them about enjoying her time with Rowan in Diagon Alley, and recommending them ice cream flavours. For Penny, she writes an extra line telling her friend that if anything is wrong, she’s here to help. She sets all the letters to one side, ready to be sent when she can find her way to an Owl Post Office, an easy enough task in the West Country, what with all the semi-wizarding villages dotted around the countryside.

 

Eventually there’s a knock on her door, and her mother enters her room before waiting for a response from Tiffany. She almost looks apologetic, but with her arms folded she comes across as more defensive than anything else.

 

“Are you ready to talk about it?”

 

“Talk about what, Mama?” Tiffany narrows her eyes, readying herself for an argument.

 

“Why you thought it was a good idea to try and break into that Vault?” Her voice is already rising in volume.

 

“People _would_ have died.” Tiffany replies flatly. “If I did nothing, they would have died, and I would have been to blame for it. So I saved them. It’s… logical.”

 

“Logical? Tiffany, you’re thirteen!” Her mother protests. “How is any of that logical?”

 

“Do nothing and let people die, do something and save them?”

 

“And get yourself killed!”

 

“But I didn’t die, so there’s no problem.” Tiffany points out, turning in her chair to face away from her mother.

 

“If you’re going to keep breaking rules… at least find your brother.”

 

This gets Tiffany’s interest, although she refuses to turn back around. She's a Pemberton, and Pemberton's are nothing if not stubborn. 

 

“I thought you thought he was dead?”

 

“Just find him, Tiffany.” The door clicks shut. That was not what Tiffany expected. At least she now has her mother's permission to keep looking for Jacob, although somehow she doubts the faculty at school will accept that as an excuse for rule breaking. 


	2. Year Three Begins

Platform nine and three quarters is as crowded as ever, and Tiffany has to elbow her way through crowds of students to get to the train. She’d said a curt goodbye to her mother earlier, the tension still thick in the air after her search for the Cursed Vaults was revealed. She pushes past a group of noisy fourth year Slytherins, one of whom curls their lip at her. Tiffany only rolls her eyes in response and keeps walking.

 

She spots Penny in the crowd, the familiar blonde head of hair just visible over a crowd of second years.

 

“Hey Tiffany!” Penny calls out. “It’s great to see you! How was your summer?”

 

“Difficult, honestly. The Daily Prophet reported what happened with the Cursed Vaults last year. Mum found out; she knows everything.” Tiffany confesses, hands in her pockets. “She hopes I’ll find out what happened to Jacob, but she’s scared that I’ll go missing too.”

  
Penny nods in sympathy. “Tell her not to worry; we’ll look out for you.”

 

“Thanks, Pen.” Tiffany smiles, and the two girls head to the train. They wave as they walk past Charlotte Jenkins and Jane Potts, who are both already dressed in their school robes. Rowan joins them just before they board the train, dressed in her robes but with her tie off centre, looking scruffy as usual.

 

When the girls find a compartment, Tiffany notices that Penny looks more tired than normal; there are bags under her eyes, despite her smiles. They barely get a chance to sit down before Tonks has thrown open the compartment door again, grinning maniacally.

 

“Wotcher, guys!”

 

“Hey, Tonks!” The others chorus.

 

“Can you believe we get to go to Hogsmeade this year?” Tonks grins, sprawling over the seats as Rowan pushes her feet off of her lap. “I’m going to spend so much time in Zonko’s, you won’t believe it.”

 

“I’m looking forward to Honeydukes!” Rowan pipes up. “I plan to buy half the shop when I go!”

 

“I just want to escape the castle.” Tiffany comments. “It’ll be nice to get out.”

 

Charlie makes his entrance now, seeming tired and weary, succeeding at changing the topic without even really trying.

 

“I warn you now, Bill is coming.” He says, sounding serious while the girls all try not to giggle, unaware that the danger is very, very real.

 

“Hi guys!” Bill easily pushes his smaller brother to one side as he makes his entrance. “Notice anything… different?”

 

“Oh God I feel like I have to try and appease my overly sensitive girlfriend.” Tiffany mutters, while Penny squints. There, sat upon Bill’s unusually tidy looking robes, is a prefect badge. It’s very shiny, and Tiffany suspects he’s spent a considerable amount of time polishing it. Normally she’d make fun of someone caring so much about it, but she knows how important this is for Bill, so she manages to refrain from any more sarcastic remarks without even needing scolding from Penny.

 

“Oh! Well done!” Rowan says, standing up to hug Bill, which actually seems a bit awkward as the two have barely had more than three conversations with one another. Tiffany and Tonks bite their lips to stop from giggling, while Penny glares at them.

 

“Well done, Bill.” Penny praises. “I knew you could do it!”

 

“Please don’t encourage him.” Charlie moans sitting next to Penny. “His head is big enough already- ow!”

 

Bill has cuffed him round the ear, and Charlie glares up at his brother, who only smiles sweetly down at him. The girls roll their eyes.

* * *

 

After their carriage ride to the Castle, they meet up with Ben and Andre, walking together as one big group to the Great Hall. As they enter the large door, Ben suddenly seems to get more nervous than normal.

 

“Do you think Dumbledore will punish us for breaking into the vaults?” Ben asks, shaking a little.

 

 _Ben, you didn’t do anything except go missing for two months._ She thinks bitterly.

“I doubt it,” Is what Tiffany says instead. “He asked me to stay away from them, but he wasn’t angry.”

 

They part ways, splitting into their houses and sitting down, watching with excited as the first years get sorted. Once all have taken their seats, Dumbledore rises to his feet.

 

“Welcome back to Hogwarts!” Dumbledore stands at the front of Great Hall, addressing the student body. “I’m pleased to have all of you new and returning students here for another year of magical learning and self-discovery. Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the erumpent in the room. As many of you know, last year, Hogwarts was afflicted with cursed ice, caused by one of the long rumoured Cursed Vaults. The curse was released by someone attempting to enter the Vault, so I am ordering everyone in the room to stay away from the rest! It’s said that tampering with each vault unleashes a unique curse, and I will not have my students and faculty endangered again.

It is true that the students who opened the Cursed Vault also broke the curse and saved the school. It is also true that they put all of us at risk by doing so. Students are absolutely forbidden from searching for the remaining vaults. The penalty for anyone caught doing so will be severe. Especially for repeat offenders.”

 

Tiffany tries not to look at Dumbledore or Rowan, who are both glaring at her. Dumbledore continues.

 

“It is the staff’s responsibility to take care of this situation, and ensure that Hogwarts is safe for everyone. So once more; Do not attempt to locate any Cursed Vaults!”

 

_Please, Dear God, let me die. Let the ground swallow me whole right now._

“My apologies, I hope that temporarily damaging your ear drums has saved them from more permanent harm. Now please, enjoy your feast! I’ve had an opportunity to sample the year’s pumpkin tart, and it is particularly delicious.”

 

The hall erupts into gleeful chatter when the tables fill with food as usual, but Rowan refuses to stop glaring at Tiffany.

 

“What was that you said earlier about Dumbledore not being angry?” She questions. Tiffany feels a little bit proud; apparently her own bad mood has started rubbing off onto Rowan.

 

“I wouldn’t call that angry.” Tiffany reasons, “just… mildly annoyed?”

 

“What should we do?”

“I’m gonna find the next vault.” Tiffany decides, not particularly caring that anyone could overhear.

 

“Tiffany!” Rowan pleads in a stage whisper.

 

“It’s not like Dumbledore is ever around to do anything about it!” Tiffany hisses back, deliberately not glancing over at the teachers’ table.

 

“I agree.”

 

Tiffany and Rowan turn to look at Tulip. She’s largely out of uniform, not having bothered with her outer robe, and Tiffany is sure she must have lost Ravenclaw points for this, and wonders where Chester is; surely Tulip deserves a lecture now?

 

“Thank you, Tulip.” Tiffany smiles.

 

“You’re welcome, Tiffany Pemberton.” Tulip returns to her food, pretending to not be able to see them anymore. Tiffany turns to Andre and raises her eyebrows. She knows he works with her in class a lot, and hopes that he’ll elaborate on her odd behaviour. He only shrugs, completely unhelpful.

* * *

 

“So what electives did we all choose?” Lottie asks as the girls all head up the staircase to their dorm room.

 

“Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes.” Tiffany replies, getting to the door first and holding it open so the others can file in. “What about you?”

 

“Oh! I chose Muggle Studies and Divination. Jane chose Arithmancy and Divination, so you’ll get to see each other!” Lottie says, smiling. Her hair has grown out over the summer, making her look a little bit like a very pretty lion as the curls frame her face. Jane scrunches her face at the thought of having to spend any more time with Tiffany than necessary, and Tiffany does the same. Thankfully, Lottie doesn’t see.

 

They wind down for the night quietly, having spent most of their train journey’s and dinner catching up after the long summer holiday. Strangely, Tiffany feels a kind of relief at being in her dormitory again. Even if she doesn’t get along with everyone in dorm, she can’t deny that she feels much safer while surrounded by the other girls. Rowan in particular, despite her loud snoring, is a comfort. Tiffany lies on her side, watching the small bony lump that is Rowan for a few minutes. It’s odd, thinking that Rowan is Tiffany’s first friend, but really, they’re not all that alike. Rowan is vibrant and awkward, and while a case could be made that Tiffany is awkward in all things to do with emotions, but all in all, Tiffany is… well she doesn’t know quite what she is. She certainly not vibrant and full of life like Rowan; she’s too… moody. Tiffany smiles, thankful that Rowan stuck around despite all of Tiffany’s flaws. That thanks diminishes slightly at a particularly loud snore.

 

Tiffany doubts she’ll get much sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have stayed up to midnight to post this; I'm not sure why I'm so eager because this isn't one of my favourite chapters at all. I think I might be feeling itchy after getting used to posting everyday. 
> 
> A note on Jane Potts: I feel like I should say that I do actually like Jane! She's a bit plain, and maybe a bit snobby when she first arrives at Hogwarts, but honestly she's one of the only normal kids, and is just a little bit frustrated at Tiffany's antics, which I can't fault her for. (as a note on Lottie, she's very loosely based on a girl I went to school with but only got to interact with a couple of times. All I can remember is that she was incredibly beautiful, and just one of the loveliest people to speak to.)
> 
> About Tiffany's electives; they make sense for what she wants to do after Hogwarts, which is probably obvious considering the nature of the game this is based on, but I won't state out right in case I want to do anything with it. I have a horrible feeling that the game is going to make us take divination as well, but I will... work around that. (Note I haven't said what classes Rowan chose, and this is why. I might need her to provide explanations later on.)


	3. Horror in Herbology

Greenhouse Three smells… of something, that’s for certain. As they enter, Tonks manages to bump into a table, spilling compost all over the floor and her shoes. Rowan and Penny seem to be able to avoid the mess, unlike Tiffany.

  
“Hurry up, everyone! We haven’t got all day! Have you got your dragon hide gloves? Good, good.” Professor Sprout seems full of energy for the new school year. “Today we will be learning to grow Valerian. The roots of this plant are used in many potions. Can anybody give me the name of one of these potions? Ah, Miss Haywood!”

 

“Draught of Living Death!” Penny answers confidently.

 

“Quite right, Miss Haywood! Five points to Hufflepuff. And can anyone else name a potion that contains Valerian sprigs? Miss Khanna!”

 

“They’re used to make Sleeping Draughts, Professor!”

 

“Correct! Five points to Ravenclaw! Now everybody, find a partner to work with, and go and gather your supplies!”

 

Tiffany and Rowan immediately latch onto one another, with Penny and Tonks doing the same. The class is spent mostly repotting Valerian, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Less enjoyable is the dirt that Tiffany manages to get on her robes. There’s a loud smash as Tonks manages to break a plant pot, followed by a sigh from Penny.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll go get another.” She tells her friend. Tiffany hears Penny move across the Greenhouse, followed by a high pitched scream.

 

Tiffany immediately looks up. Standing over Penny is a werewolf. Tiffany’s wand is out in an instant, and she’s one of many in the class to aim it at the beast. Thankfully, Professor Sprout is on hand.

 

“Riddikulus!”

 

The werewolf shrinks into a teddy bear, sat innocently on the table. The whole class is silent, save for Penny’s heavy breathing. Tiffany turns to Rowan, who looks just as frightened.

 

“What the fuck was that?” Tiffany asks before anyone else gathers the courage to speak.

 

“A boggart. A vile, nasty, shapeshifting creature that takes on the form of its victim’s fear.” Sprout replies, gently leading Penny away from the pots. “They’re defeated by laughter, so you can cast riddikulus to turn into something humorous. To my knowledge, this is the first time a boggart has been seen in the greenhouses. I must report this to Professor Dumbledore immediately. Class dismissed!”

 

Sprout stalks out of the greenhouse, and after much murmuring the students slowly start to leave too.

 

“Hey, Pen?” Tiffany asks a little shyly. “Why was your boggart a werewolf?”

 

“How should I know?” Penny snaps, and Tiffany takes a step back, shocked at her friend’s unusual behaviour. Penny quickens her pace, and catches up to Tonks, who slings an arm around her. Tiffany is frozen in place until Rowan and Andre poke her in the side, and they head off together.

* * *

 

Care of Magical Creatures is likely to be a disaster of a class, if Tiffany’s thoughts are correct. For whatever reason, Merula seems to be here, despite never showing any sign of empathy towards any other being. Even worse is Ismelda, who Tiffany is sure would kill any of the creatures if she had the chance.

 

“It’s going to be fine, Ben! These creatures are more afraid of you than you are of them.” Charlie reasons while he adjusts his ponytail. Ben, needless to say, does not seem reassured.

 

Merula stalks her way over, Ismelda and even Barnaby Lee following close behind. Tiffany thinks they look like a very lame gang.

 

“It must be nice going to school with your brother, Weasley.” Merula sneers. “Pemberton wouldn’t know anything about that.”

 

“You never quit, do you, Merula?” Charlie asks, scrunching his nose slightly. He turns to whisper to Tiffany. “Want me to talk to her for you?”

 

“Please. I’ve already wasted too much time on her.” Tiffany replies, refusing to look at Merula as though ignoring her will make her cease to exist. Instead, she picks at a particularly stubborn speck of dirt under her fingernail.

 

Charlie grins, and faces Merula again. “What are you so angry about, Merula? Why are you still lashing out at Tiffany after all these years?”

 

“I won’t have to explain myself to anyone. Let alone a filthy Gryffindor Weasley.” Merula drawls.

 

“You’re right. You’re intelligent, talented, and ambitious! You can do anything you choose to.” Charlie says. “Why worry about Tiffany when you’re obviously the best witch at Hogwarts?”

 

Merula screws up her face and clenches her fists. “Whatever, idiot!” She snaps, “I just wanted to let Pemberton know that my friends and I are going to find the next Cursed Vault first.” She stalks off, clicking her fingers to signal to her apparent ‘friends’ to follow her. Tiffany feels like ‘minions’ might be a better term for them. She turns to Charlie, smiling.

 

“I knew you were good at calming dangerous creatures, but I didn’t think anyone could calm Merula.”

 

“She’s not that bad. I mean, she’s really bad. But she’s not all bad. Let me know next time she bothers you.”

 

They grin at each other, and then nearly jump out of their skins when Professor Kettleburn starts the class. Tiffany ends up working with Rowan, who seems far more at home than herself, although Tiffany supposes that Rowan did grow up on a farm and is probably far more used to the outdoors.

 

While Tiffany is busy sorting out food for the puffskeins, Barnaby seems to appear at her side. She jumps in surprise to see him so close, food pellets spilling all over the floor.

 

“Jesus, Barnaby.”

 

“If you mess with Merula, I’ll vanish all the bones in your body.” He says, presumably attempting to be menacing, but Tiffany saw him nearly cry in delight at the sight of the puffskeins earlier, so the effect is lost.

 

“Why are you even friends with her?” Tiffany asks, kicking some mess off of her shoe. “She’s a massive bitch.”

 

“She promised to make me more powerful if I helped her find the next Vault.” Barnaby says as he works. “She’s the most cunning witch in Hogwarts. If I want to get into the Vault, then I need to do as she says.”

 

“Barnaby…” Tiffany sighs. “Merula’s clearly manipulating you, Barnaby. Don’t you think she’s lying?”

 

“Don’t try to make me think!” Barnaby snaps, grabbing the food he needs for his and Liz’s puffskein and marching away angrily. Tiffany shakes her head, and returns to Rowan, who is trying to stop their puffskein from sticking its tongue up her nose.

 

“What was that about?” Rowan asks, taking the food and offering it to the creature, successfully getting it to leave her alone.

 

“Barnaby’s being manipulated by Merula to help her look for the next Vault.” Tiffany says.

 

“I see. Well, he’s not the brightest, is he?” Rowan replies. “I doubt he’ll be able to help her much.”

 

“Yeah.”

* * *

 

“Have you seen Penny?” Tonks asks, coming up next to Tiffany and Rowan as they enter the Great Hall. “I haven’t seen her since after Herbology!”

 

“No, is she okay?”

 

“I don’t know, I’m worried.” Tonks confesses, and Tiffany notices that her hair has lost some of its brightness, and looks to be more of a faded salmon colour compared to the usual bubble-gum pink. Charlie and Ben spot them from where they’re sat at the Gryffindor table, and wave them over.

 

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asks, perceptive as ever.

 

“Did something bad happen?”

 

“There was a boggart in herbology.” Tonks says. “Didn’t Rowan and Tiffany tell you?”

 

Charlie and Ben turn to look at them accusingly. “No.”

 

“It’s not like it’s anyone’s business.” Tiffany mutters defensively, stuffing her face with a bread roll to avoid being questioned.

 

“There was a boggart in the greenhouse?” Steven Billingsley seems to appear out of nowhere, sliding in on the bench next to Charlie and immediately stealing a sausage from his plate. “There was one in the cupboard in Muggle Studies too! Lottie nearly fainted.”

 

“That’s so weird.” Tonks comments, while Charlie pouts as she also decides to liberate his food from his plate.

 

“What’s a boggart?” Ben whispers at Rowan, who quickly catches him up to speed, even as he seems to get paler and paler. With everyone on the same page again, the conversation continues.

 

“Charlie, you’re the creature expert. Why are there suddenly boggarts popping up?” Tiffany asks.

 

“I wouldn’t really call boggarts… creatures.” Charlie says, scratching the back of his head. “They’re classed as non-beings, but that’s about as much as I know. We had one in the house once when I was little, but I can’t remember much. Bill might remember something?”

 

“Well that’s no use. Why do we keep you around again?” Tonks comments cheekily, before ducking as Charlie flicks a spoonful of mashed potato at her, that fortunately lands on the Ravenclaw table rather than on another person. Unfortunately, Tonks takes this as a declaration of war, and Tiffany and Rowan sensibly decide to make their escape before too much chaos erupts.

 

(Although, if Tiffany tells Peeves to go check out the Great Hall when she passes him, then that’s no one else’s business.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping this doesn't have any big gaps- my computer was acting up a few hours ago, but I've edited this chapter so many times my brain now refuses to read it. 
> 
> Big change: I've merged the year 3 and year 4 Merula start-of-year confrontations into one. They were grinding on my nerves, and I want to do something with Merula other than have her be a petty bully, so this gives me a tiny bit more freedom with what I can do down the line. (Merula in the game had so much potential but they... ugh. If anyone wants my thoughts they can ask, otherwise the notes will be longer than the damn chapter). So anyway, hopefully this works! (Also CoMC is a year 3 class in the books, so it made more sense in the narrative for that)
> 
> Notes on Penny: I feel I'm slightly biased towards Penny because I think she's wonderful, and she's my (non book canon) friend in the game. BUT- I hope you'll like my take on her side quest. It's a couple chapters down the line, but seriously I hope y'all like it.
> 
> Thanks to James018 for commenting, and to everyone who's liked so far!


	4. Boggarts and Butterbeer

The morning doesn’t get off to a great start. Tiffany wakes before Rowan, which is a rare occasion. This time however Rowan had stayed up later than normal trying to get her homework perfect, so Tiffany stumbles into the Ravenclaw common room alone, and a little bleary eyed. A high pitched scream however shakes her awake, and she sees a large spider advancing on Eliza, who is now all but backed against a wall. While Tiffany fumbles for her wand, Chester bursts out of the boys’ dormitories, wand in hand.

 

“Riddikulus!”

 

The spider turns into a spinning top. Eliza lets out a sigh of relief, even as Tiffany frowns. Three boggarts in just two days? For a being she’d barely been aware of until yesterday morning, this seems like an excess of them. Chester has taken charge of making sure Eliza is okay, so Tiffany heads down to the Great Hall, grateful that she’s not the one to deal with a crying child.

 

She spots Penny and Bill standing near the teachers’ table, Penny in full uniform looking impeccable as normal, and Bill looking as scruffy as ever. Apparently they two have struck up a friendship since spending a few days stuck in the hospital wing together last year. Tiffany walks toward them.

 

“Pen! Are you okay?” Tiffany looks at her friend with suspicion, and Penny’s perfect smile does little to soothe her fears.

 

“I’m perfectly fine!”

 

“I have trouble believing that.” Tiffany mutters, turning to Bill. “Bill, what do you know about boggarts? There’s been at least three pop up since yesterday, and Charlie said you guys had one in your house once.”

 

Bill seems thoughtful, scratching at his head.

 

“I’m surprised he remembers that at all… Anyway, you should ask Hagrid; he likes terrifying creatures so he’s likely to know something about Boggarts. All I know is that they scare people. Let me know what- HEY!” Bill turns around to glare at a commotion happening on the Gryffindor table. “You! First-years! Stop doing that to the custard tarts!” He runs off to deal with the situation, leaving Tiffany and Penny alone.

 

“So, do you want to come with me?” Tiffany asks, hopeful that Penny’s temper has cooled since she snapped at her after Herbology yesterday.

 

“I have things to do, sorry!”

 

And with that Penny leaves, so Tiffany shrugs her shoulders and decides to get breakfast. She can find Hagrid later at lunch.

* * *

 

When Tiffany finds Hagrid, he’s walking through the courtyard, and Tiffany jogs to reach him before he has a chance to disappear somewhere else.

 

“Tiffany! Good to see yeh.” He seems as cheerful as ever.

 

“Hey, Hagrid! How was your summer?” Tiffany asks, smiling up at the half-giant.

 

“It was fine, thanks fer askin’! Raised a litter of flobberworms in the hut, but well, now they’re full-grown.” He seems genuinely enthusiastic about this, and while Tiffany doesn’t understand the appeal of flobberworms she can’t help but feel excited on his behalf. “I jus’ don’t know what to do with them now!”

 

“Why don’t you set them free?” Tiffany asks.  

 

“Good idea! They can have happy little flobberworm families in the dirt! Always knew yeh had a good heart. But enough abou’ me flobberworm problems, what can I do for you?”

 

“How would a boggart end up in one of the herbology greenhouses?” Tiffany asks. Hagrid seems shocked.

 

“A boggart? I haven’ seen one o’ them fer years. Not since yer brother was a student, an’ came askin’ abou’ them.”

 

“Why was Jacob asking about boggarts? What did you tell him?” Tiffany asks, inwardly cringing. She has a feeling that this is going to be something to do with the Vaults again.

 

“Slow down, Tiffany. I’ll tell yeh everythin’ yeh want to know.” Hagrid soothes, patting her on the shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. She belatedly realises her breathing had sped up. “Yer brother thought they ‘ad something to do with the Cursed Vaults. Thought one of the vaults played on the fears o’ anyone who tried to open it.”

 

“So that means…”

 

“If boggarts are suddenly appearin’ in Hogwarts, it might mean tha’ someone’s messin’ with that vault.” Hagrid gives her a look that makes her feel guilty, despite the fact that Tiffany hasn’t actually broken any rules yet.

 

Yet.

 

“Jacob must have done a lot of research on the vaults. You wouldn’t happen to know where he kept his notes?”

 

“Yer brother didn’ have a lot o’ friends at Hogwarts, but he did spend a lot of time at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.” Hagrid tells her. “Madam Rosmerta, she runs the place, might know somethin’ about his notes. If yeh ever make it to Hogsmeade I’d be happy to introduce yeh!”

 

“That would be brilliant, Hagrid! Thank you!”

 

She glances down at her watch, and grimaces.

 

“I should probably go now; I have potions and I don’t want Snape to murder me for being late.”

 

Hagrid waves her off as she runs towards to the dungeons.

* * *

 

Saturday morning rolls around quickly, and all the third years are excited to go to Hogsmeade. Professor Flitwick is waiting in the common room to accept permission slips, and Rowan keeps chanting “Hogs! Meade!” at her until she hurries up so they can head down to the common room together. They race down the stairs, and pass the statue of Rowena. Rowan gets her permission slip approved, and Tiffany steps forward for her turn.

 

“I have my permission slip, Sir!” Tiffany says, grinning from ear to ear. This is another chance to find out what happened to Jacob, and she can’t wait to see him again.

 

“I’m sorry, Miss Pemberton, but you’re not going to Hogsmeade. You’re not leaving the castle grounds even with a permission slip!” Flitwick squeaks.

 

“You’re joking.” Tiffany says, face falling.

 

“Dumbledore’s orders, Miss Pemberton.”

 

 _That bastard!_ Tiffany thinks angrily, remembering last year when he wanted to give her house points for the same reason he’s denying her Hogsmeade now. _Does he want to reward me or punish me?_

 

“Sir! That’s hardly fair!” She cries, ignoring the looks she gets from around the room.

 

“Orders are orders, I’m afraid. You have broken countless school rules, put your fellow students in danger, and displayed a complete lack of self-control.” Flitwick seems oblivious to the fact that Tiffany is getting angry, or rather; he seems to be trying to ignore her temper.

 

“I had to do it!” Tiffany reminds him, wincing at her own words. “If I hadn’t then Andre would have died!”

 

“Dumbledore could have done the same thing without endangering several students, including yourself.” Flitwick points out.

 

_But he didn’t!_

 

“Sir, I have to go! Madam Rosmerta might know something about Jacob and the Vaults!” Tiffany pleads, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

 

“This is exactly why you cannot go! You’re too focused on these dangerous vaults, and not your schoolwork! If you want to earn Hogsmeade privileges, you will need to study hard. Then, you may go to Hogsmeade.”

 

Tiffany knows she will regret this, but she feels like a string that’s been pulled too tight.

 

“This is bullshit!” She shrieks, stamping her foot in a move that would remind her of Merula at any other time. “I’m top of the class in charms and transfiguration, and I’m doing well in all my other classes too! How can you deny me Hogsmeade?” She takes a deep breath, but doesn’t pause long enough for Flitwick to cut in. “If it weren’t for me searching for the Vaults, multiple people would be dead by now! I have more than proven myself, and I deserve to go!”

 

Something about Flitwick changes. He stays the same height, of course, but suddenly the tiny man seems giant as he rebukes Tiffany.

 

“Twenty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Pemberton, for your cheek!” He seems rather angry. “This is precisely the behaviour that has gotten you banned from school trips! Now, if you want to go to Hogsmeade I expect to see twice as much hard work from you!”

 

Tiffany can hardly see, anger and disappointment and shame coursing through her veins. She thinks she lets out some kind of scream, but she can’t be sure. She charges away from Flitwick, and casts the knockback jinx at a thankfully empty table, sending it flying. She runs up the stairs to her dormitory, tears streaming down her face. She throws open the door to her room, and finds the loud bang it makes against the wall unsatisfactory as she leaps onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow as she lets out another scream. Footsteps sound behind her, and she feels the mattress dip as someone joins her on the bed.

 

“Tiffany? Are you all right?”

 

It’s Rowan, and hearing her best friend’s voice is enough to start calming Tiffany’s tears. Rowan pats Tiffany on the back awkwardly, and surprisingly it’s soothing. Tiffany sniffs pathetically before replying.

 

“I’m good, you should go to Hogsmeade.” She mumbles, turning her face so that her voice is no longer muffled by her pillow.

 

“Are you sure?” Rowan’s voice seems small, and Tiffany can’t blame her. She must have seemed frightening.

 

“Yeah. Go have an extra butterbeer for me.” She sits herself up to smile at her friend. Rowan grins, seemingly satisfied that Tiffany was okay, and leans forward to hug her before skipping off.

 

“I’ll get you something from Honeydukes!” She promises before she disappears through the door and down the stairs. Tiffany smiles weakly at her friend’s retreating figure.

* * *

 

She waits for her temper to pass before moving, largely in the hopes that most of the other students will have left for Hogsmeade by now. Huffing, she swings her legs over the edge of her bed, and heads back down to the common room. She intends to go to the library to make a start on impressing her Professors but she spots Chester reading on a sofa while first and second years shy away from her.

 

“I thought you’d be in Hogsmeade.”

 

“And I thought you’d be sulking.” He quips, setting his book aside.

 

“Hilarious, Chester.” She comments dryly, although her voice catches in her throat slightly.

 

“Honestly, I thought I’d be a pretty poor prefect if I left you alone after that scene.”

 

Tiffany screws up her nose instead of replying, and sits next to him. He throws an arm around her shoulder, and she slumps into his side.

 

“I’m sorry I lost more house points.” She mumbles.

 

“I’m not angry with you about that.” Chester says. “I’m more worried about… your temper.”

 

“My temper?”

 

“You’re a real smart kid, Tiffany. But you get worked up easily and do stupid things.”

 

“You say that as though you’re not a kid too.” Tiffany sniffs, but Chester isn’t impressed with her attempt at deflection.

 

“You shouldn’t have shouted at Flitwick. I know you’re upset about not being allowed into Hogsmeade, that’s… understandable. But the Professors are trying to look out for you and keep you safe.”

 

“I don’t want them to keep me safe!” Tiffany snaps back, and is about to start ranting at Chester but is silenced with a glare.

 

“It’s their job, Tiffany.”

 

“Well they’re doing a shit job of it!”

 

Chester pinches the bridge of his nose, and looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but there. “Just… try to keep your emotions in check, okay? Talk to your friends, write in a journal. Do whatever you need to do to avoid throwing tantrums at people who are only trying to protect you.”

 

Tiffany turns her face away to hide her wobbling lower lip and tears spilling out of her eyes. Chester hands her a handkerchief anyway, which she accepts silently.

 

“I know you find it hard to trust the Professors after they let your brother down. I can’t change that, but promise me you’ll do everything you can to stay safe?”

 

“Okay.” Tiffany eventually rasps out after an awkward pause with Chester staring at her expectantly. After another moment of silence, Tiffany turns her head back to him.

 

Chester smiles, and wipes one of her tears away with his thumb. He uses another hand to reach down to the pile of books on the floor. She accepts the gift, and grins at the sight of a NEWT level text book. Chester is pretending to ignore her now, returning to his own book, so Tiffany decides to do the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. That argument between Tiffany and Flitwick is something I've loved writing, but also had to rewrite multiple times to get the tone where I want it to be. Luckily I had something to go off of from real life, but there was significantly less shouting and stomping from me when I got annoyed with my teacher and Tiffany's emotions are quite intense! 
> 
> (Although, saying all that I wish I had shouted more; I got in trouble when people were bullying me? Not fair. I should have been meaner to her.)   
> (Plus, while I think Dumbledore is in the wrong in this situation, I think Flitwick is completely fair; Tiffany has proven herself to be a nuisance, and so not letting her go to Hogsmeade is fair- she's angrier with Dumbles than Flitwick, but he's the only one there for her to direct that anger towards)
> 
> ALSO NOTES ON CHESTER: I love him. He deserves a nap, a pay rise, and some hot chocolate.


	5. Studying Sucks

After a very awkward charms class (Tiffany and Flitwick refused to make eye contact with one another, and it was Ben Copper who took on Tiffany’s usual role of demonstrating techniques to other students) Tiffany and Rowan head to the library, ready to study so that Tiffany can earn her right to school trips. Madam Pince is chasing some first years out for eating around the books when they arrive, and she scowls at Tiffany before stalking back to her desk. She thinks it’s a little unfair that the librarian doesn’t like her, considering she’s never caused any sort of damage or ruckus in the library.

 

The girls settle down at an empty table, pulling their books out of their bags and setting up their things for a long study session.

 

“Thanks for studying with me,” Tiffany whispers when she’s certain Madam Pince won’t notice them talking.

 

“Hey don’t worry about it! Studying and spending time with you are my two favourite things!” Rowan replies, and Tiffany winces at Rowan’s lack of volume control. Pince shushes them angrily and Tiffany holds up a hand in apology. They continue studying until closing time. Tiffany is grinning when she leaves, certain that soon she’ll get the permission she so desperately needs.

* * *

 

Tiffany definitely dislikes how Rowan and Andre can spend meal times worry-free while she has to keep studying just to earn the same right as anyone else. She especially doesn’t like that they’re even able to play chess right next to her. At least they’re largely quiet, save for the smashed chess pieces being scattered over the table. The quiet is soon gone as Tonks makes her way over.

 

“How’s the studying going?” Tonks asks Tiffany, disrupting her Ancient Runes homework that she’s busy working on, and more importantly trying to keep safe from her cup of coffee that Tonks nearly manages to knock over just by sitting down.

 

“I think my brain has started dying.” Tiffany says moodily. “Where’s Penny?”

 

“Oh, her little sister’s not well so she’s gone home for a couple of days to see her. Also, you’ve spelled ‘scriptures’ wrong, you’ve forgotten the ‘e’.”

 

“Thanks.” Tiffany quickly corrects her work, cursing under her breath as an ink blot immediately ruins it. Quills are a pain, and she misses using biros. “Any news?”

 

“Ugh. Not much. There was a boggart in the dungeons earlier. Frightened Diego half to death.”

 

“Another one?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Well shit.”

 

“All the shit.” Tonks agrees, before opening her mouth to assist Andre with his chess match, only to be silenced by a critically raised eyebrow and death-glare.

* * *

 

“What are you doing?”

 

_Shit._

Tiffany hastily stuffs the glass bottle she was going to drink from into her satchel, but is too late. Chester has seen too much, and immediately marches over, pulling out the Wideye potion she was going to drink and glaring at her disapprovingly.

 

“Really, Tiffany?” He asks. “This is the sort of thing people do for OWLs, not to go on school trips.”

 

“Give it back!”

 

“No! You’re not supposed to have this!” He scolds, pocketing it, and Tiffany is sure he plans on drinking it himself at some point. “Why do you even care about going to Hogsmeade so much?”

 

“I need to ask Madam Rosmerta about Jacob!” Tiffany insists. “Please, Chester, this is really important to me, and Andre is already limiting my caffeine intake!”

 

“Andre is being a good friend. Besides, just ask someone else to speak to Rosmerta for you!” Chester says sounding more than a little exasperated. “Besides, all Flitwick really wants to know is that you can keep out of trouble. This is unnecessary!”

 

“He said he wanted me to work harder.” Tiffany points out. “So this is me working harder.”

 

Chester seems to realise he’s not going to win the battle if it continues, so he walks away with Tiffany’s potion, leaving her scowling after him.

* * *

 

Bill and Charlie enter the Great Hall just as Tiffany is about to get up to look for the elder brother, both looking a little scruffier than normal. Charlie has a suspiciously large grin on his face, and Bill looks like he’s been through hell. Tiffany bounds up to them.

 

“You look like shit.” She tells Bill without really thinking.

 

“So do you.”

 

“I know, don’t worry about it. Can I borrow your old charms notes?”

 

“Yeah I’ll see if I can find them out tonight.” Bill seems to look at her apprehensively. “Do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey, Tiff?”

 

“No, I’ll be fine. Once Flitwick gives me permission to go to Hogsmeade I’ll get some rest. Are… you okay?” She indicates the bits of dead leaves stuck in both Weasley boys’ hair, and their muddy shoes. “Where have you even been?”

 

Charlie opens his mouth to respond, but Bill cuts him off.

 

“Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. Good talk, Tiff.”

* * *

 

Flitwick takes longer to give Tiffany her Hogsmeade privileges back than she’d originally anticipated. Despite this, and despite multiple warnings from her friends, she refuses to slow down or stop working so hard. She spends hardly any time in her dormitory now, her writing annoys the other girls and stops them from getting any sleep, so she’s all but been kicked out of her dorm room.

 

As a result, Tiffany has almost taken over one of the desks in the common room permanently. There’s nearly always at least one of her textbooks left there even when she’s not sat there. One of the older students has complained more than once, but soon they realise that Tiffany isn’t going to budge.

 

After finishing a charms essay, she moves onto Arithmancy. A fast favourite of Tiffany’s, but also a completely brutal class. The homework set by Professor Vector is complicated enough, and with the several extra credit essays on top that she’s given herself, Tiffany is sure that she’ll have the whole of _Numerology and Grammatica_ memorised by the end of the week. She rubs at her eyes, trying to banish the headache building up behind them.

 

Apparently she falls asleep at some point, because she gets woken by the sun shining in her face through the window. She twists around, confused. She’d been working at one of the many writing desks in the room last night, but now she’s sprawled on a sofa with a blanket tucked around her, and someone’s even gone to the trouble to remove her shoes. Her books are stacked neatly on the floor, and there’s a note on top of them that simple says ‘dipshit’. She smiles. The handwriting is unfamiliar, but she can guess who it belongs to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my filler chapter as I procrastinate on the "Penny for your thoughts" side quest! There's one little bit I haven't written for it that I'm struggling with. I really really hope you guys will like what I'm doing with it!
> 
> Now notes for this chapter:
> 
> Writing Tiffany during these moments actually reminds me of my older brother, who had a tendency to take criticisms from authority to extremes when he was younger; I didn't realise this until I was rereading, but there you go! Apparently my own family's spite has bled into Tiffany's character!   
> (Also maybe a tiny bit of my own; life advice, if addicted to coffee, don't try to quit it for a week on a dare, especially after the person who set the dare then tries to talk to you out of it after they read up on the side effects of caffeine withdrawal. You will need to be rescued by your mother if you do. There's a fine line between being stubborn and being an idiot.) 
> 
> Also this chapter doesn't do much in regards to plot, but I don't want to rush into the plot too quickly, and I am buying myself time before posting that Penny chapter. BUT it gave me some opportunities to hint at things that might happen later on, and also show just how dramatic Tiffany can be when upset. 
> 
> This is also a shorter chapter than what I've been aiming for, but luckily next chapter is already a couple hundred words longer, and I still have to write another scene for it, so that's good!


	6. Penny for your Thoughts

Arithmancy goes well in the end. Vector accepts her extra work, and only comments once on her ‘unhealthy work mentality’. She even gets rewarded for house points, which has her feeling very smug. Penny approaches Tiffany after class, looking about as tired as she feels, but Tiffany doesn’t worry about it until she speaks.

 

“I need your help.”

 

Her tone is flat, and cold. Completely unlike anything Tiffany is used to. The grip she has on Tiffany’s arm is strong enough to leave a bruise, and the dark circles under her eyes have started to show through her make up. Quite frankly, Penny looks about as awful as Tiffany feels.

 

“Meet me in the artefact room once classes are over, okay?”

 

“Sure, Pen.” Tiffany says, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Hey, are you alright?”

 

Penny doesn’t respond, only shrugs and walks away quickly. Tiffany frowns. She feels as though she ought to be offended, but she feels more concerned than anything else.

* * *

 

The door to the artefact room creaks when Tiffany pushes it open, and she lets out a yelp when Penny grabs her by the tie and pulls her into the room. She’s set up a cauldron and other potions equipment in the centre of the room.

 

“Jesus, Pen!” Tiffany complains, loosening her tie once Penny releases her.

 

“I’m glad you’re here, I was going to get Peeves to look for you.” Penny says, ignoring Tiffany’s complaint.

 

“What are you making?” Tiffany asks, picking up some mistletoe berries that Penny smacks out of her hand.

 

“Just do as I say.” Penny instructs, being evasive.

 

Tiffany follows Penny’s instructions, grinding and chopping ingredients as Penny reads the instructions that she refuses to let Tiffany see. The room seems hotter than normal, and the potion smells and smokes something awful.

 

“Pen, really. What is this?”

 

“Wolfsbane.”

 

“Penny, why on Earth would you need that?” Tiffany asks, sighing and rubbing at her temples. Her head feels like its pounding, but whether that’s the stress, the potion, or the lack of sleep is a mystery. Unfortunately for Tiffany, Penny takes this as an opportunity for story time.

 

“Every summer my family spends time in the country. I had a friend up there, a muggle, her name was Scarlett. This summer we went out for a walk one night and saw a werewolf. Scarlett was fascinated, and wanted to see where it was going.” Penny wipes at the fat tears rolling down her cheeks, and Tiffany tries her best to follow what she’s saying. “I had my wand, but when it noticed us I froze. By the time I had the courage to do something it was too late for Scarlett. She’s dead because of me. It hurts so much, Tiff.”

 

Realisation starts to dawn on Tiffany, but it still takes more than a few moments for her to speak. “That sounds awful, Pen. But… why are we brewing Wolfsbane now?”

 

She knows the answer.

 

She hates the answer.

 

But the answer won’t be real until she has proof.

 

Penny opens her mouth to try and respond, and instead shrugs off her robe, unbuttons part of her blouse, and pulls back the white fabric to reveal the bite marks on her right shoulder. Angry and red, as wounds inflicted by a werewolf are cursed. They can never truly heal.

 

Good God; Penny Haywood, most popular girl in the year, potions prodigy, prettiest girl in the school, a werewolf? This… isn’t what Tiffany had expected from her school years.

 

Tiffany stares at the bite mark, and feels more out of her depth than she had when she fought the Ice Knight. What do you say to someone who has recently been turned into a werewolf?  

 

She shrugs off her robe, and pulls up her shirt sleeve, to reveal her scar from fighting the Ice Knight. She purposefully lines her scar up with Penny’s, making a show of comparing them, and huffing in forced annoyance.

 

“Yours is bigger than mine.” Tiffany decides gravely.

  
Penny giggles, high pitched and hysterical, but it’s still laughter. Tiffany smiles tiredly back.

 

“Tiffany Rose Pemberton, you are without a doubt one of the most ridiculous people I’ve ever met, and I share a dormitory with Tonks.” Penny declares once she gets her breath back. “Out of all the things you could say, you go with that?”

 

Tiffany shrugs, grinning. “I didn’t think you’d want pity.”

 

“I was… worried you’d hate me.” Penny confesses, face starting to fall again to Tiffany’s horror.

 

“Why, because one night a month you turn into a murderous beast? Jane Potts on her period is far worse, so if I can survive that, I think I can survive anything.” Tiffany carefully takes Penny’s hands. “Besides, there’s no point in judging you over something you can’t control.”

 

_I wouldn’t wish that fate on anybody._

 

Penny smiles gratefully. “You’re a good friend, Tiff.”

 

“I’m really not.” Tiffany refutes, feeling Penny slip her hands out of her grip and watching as she moves to ladle the Wolfsbane potion into a glass. “Hey, Pen! No!”

 

“What?” Penny seems to be switching through emotions faster than Tiffany thought possible, but here she is looking angry mere seconds after looking like Tiffany had just rescued her whole family.

 

“Are you sure that’s safe?”

 

“Are you doubting my skills?”

 

“No!” Tiffany shakes her head forcefully, regretting it instantly as it worsens her headache. Shit. “Just… the Wolfsbane potion is… new, isn’t it? And supposed to be very hard to brew?”

 

“And?”

 

“Pen, you’re still a student! You shouldn’t have to…” Tiffany trails off, closing her eyes briefly. “Why doesn’t the school sort this stuff out for you?”

 

“They already let me go to the Shrieking Shack to transform. There’s only one way in, and it’s kind of hard to escape as a mindless beast, so it’s not like they’ve done nothing!”

 

“Doing nothing and actually being helpful are two very different things.”

 

“Look, the potion is really new and expensive, I don’t blame them for not offering to brew it for me!”

 

“Then why didn’t you ask them to brew it anyway if you were just going to brew it yourself?”

 

“I didn’t want to be a bother!”  


“Pen!” Tiffany has to stop herself from shouting. Both to avoid drawing anyone’s attention to the Artefact Room, and to avoid worsening her headache. “You don’t think that… maybe stealing Snape’s very expensive potion supplies might just be a bother to the school?”

 

Penny goes red. “I didn’t think of that.”

 

Tiffany almost makes a rude remark, but decides against it. “Let’s just… go talk to Dumbledore about this. He needs to know you need this potion, and I… Oh God I can’t believe I’m going to say this. I want Snape to check a sample of your potion to make sure it’s safe to drink.”

 

Penny laughs weakly. “You must be worried about me.”

 

Tiffany scowls and sticks her tongue out. They rise to their feet, and holding hands they leave the artefact room. Other students give them funny looks, but Tiffany glares at them until they look away. Her reputation of causing trouble serves her well.

* * *

 

Dumbledore’s office is much less intimidating without all four heads of house staring down at her as well. The only relief she has in this situation is knowing that technically, Penny is the one that broke more rules this time. She was only dragged along for the ride.

 

“Miss Haywood, what on earth possessed you to brew such a difficult potion by yourself? Has the school not provided adequate adjustments for your condition?” Snape asks, holding a sample of the potion to the light and scrutinising it.

 

“I… no, the school has done more than enough- I just…” Penny looks uncomfortable, and shrinks in on herself.

 

“Hell no the school’s not provided adequate adjustments!” Tiffany snaps when Penny falters. “You dealt with the physical symptoms of her condition, certainly! And you’ve done what you can to make other students safe too, but did you not think for one moment that it would have a… a psychological effect on her too? How would you like it if every month your mind suddenly stopped being your own, huh?”

 

Here it is. Confronted with a sad story and a hurting friend was hard for Tiffany to process, but now there’s an enemy? Something she can see, something she can argue with? She can do this. Uncertainty is banished, and in its place there is rage over the faculty’s failures.

 

Snape looks about ready to open his mouth and deduct house points for her outburst, but Dumbledore holds up a hand to silence him, and beckons for Tiffany to continue.

 

“I mean… has it never occurred to you that your students have minds? We feel things, and sometimes we do stupid things as a result, but quite frankly you’ve all shown a stunning lack of ability to handle difficult situations, so why should we trust you to fix things?” She might be rambling a little right now. She’s not sure if she’s talking about Penny, or herself in this moment. Whatever, they need to know. “All you ever seem to do is like… fix the surface of a problem, without looking any deeper!”

 

“And what would you have us do, Miss Pemberton?” Dumbledore questions, the same smile on his face as he had at the end of her second year when she’d refused house points. Tiffany flushes red at the scrutiny she gets from the other teachers in the room.

 

“Treat us like people who need support, not like problems that need to be solved.” Tiffany finally decides on. She turns her head to glance at Penny, who is gazing at her with a mixture of astonishment, horror, and pride. Tiffany smiles shyly back.

 

“So, Miss Haywood.”

 

Penny jerks her head to look at Dumbledore. Her eyes are wide with anxiety and she seems to be shaking a little.

 

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore?”

 

“How can we help you manage your lycanthropy better?” He asks kindly, and Tiffany curls her hand into a fist at the new flush of anger. Admittedly, at least it seems like he’s trying to do a better job, but she feels more like he’s humouring her. That could just be because she’s already angry, though.

 

“Well… um… I’d really appreciate it if… there was a school could provide me with Wolfsbane potion.” Penny says, eyes darting around from Professor to Professor. “I know that when I’m in the shrieking shack I can’t hurt anyone, but… I don’t want to be a mindless monster. I want to be me!”

 

Dumbledore looks up at Snape. “Well, Professor Snape? Would you be able to brew this potion for Miss Haywood each month?”

 

“Starting next month, yes.”

* * *

 

The discussion of Penny’s situation goes on for a long time, and Tiffany has to confess she doesn’t pay attention to a lot of it, instead having a staring contest with Fawkes that she definitely loses. She knows enough to know that Sprout speaks to Penny’s parents through Dumbledore’s fireplace, and that Penny cries at one point (Tiffany held her hand while McGonagall offered a handkerchief) and Snape is pushing for a loss of house points (Ravenclaw loses five for her outburst, and Hufflepuff another five for stealing potion ingredients).

 

“Sometimes I wonder why you aren’t a Gryffindor.” Penny says as they push their way out of the room.  

 

“It’s because I’m not brave, I’m just normally very angry.” Tiffany replies. “Are you… okay?”

 

“Well… I’m not looking forward to my transformation tonight, but at least next month won’t be so bad!” Penny admits. The conversation is brought to a halt by a voice behind them.

 

“Miss Pemberton, a word?” McGonagall asks, and Tiffany lets the Transfiguration Professor pull her aside while Penny continues on her way.

 

“Ma’am?”

 

“Under no circumstances, Miss Pemberton, do I want you to attempt to become an animagus by yourself to help Miss Haywood.”

 

“Why would I do that?” Tiffany tilts her head in confusion, utterly thrown off by the topic. It wasn’t something she’d even thought about, although, now that she thinks about it… no. Best not to try dangerous things like that when you’re only thirteen.

 

McGonagall’s lip twitches. “Why indeed.”

 

“Can I go now, Professor?”

 

“No. I also mean to say, that if you continue to work hard in your transfiguration lessons, and get an Outstanding in your OWL exam, and also take the subject at NEWT level, I may, _may,_ consider teaching you how to become an animagus.” McGonagall looks stern, but also like she’s trying to restrain a smile. “For all your misbehaving, you are a very talented young woman, and more importantly, a young woman who seems to care a great deal about her friends.”

 

“Thank you, Ma’am!”

 

McGonagall seems to be about to leave before she hesitates. “Oh, and Miss Pemberton?”

 

“Yes, Ma’am?”

 

“Might I suggest that you go and get a good night’s sleep?”

 

“Ma’am?”

 

“As much as I am impressed with the extra work you have been putting into your studies, your health is a priority.” McGonagall seems almost… well she seems softer than normal. A far cry from the stern Professor that Tiffany is used to speaking to in class.

 

“I’m. I have… things to do.” Tiffany says, feeling silly and blushing with embarrassment.

 

“It can wait until tomorrow, Miss Pemberton.” McGonagall says, the familiar sternness starting to return into her tone. “Look after yourself.”

 

“I’ll try, Ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... I might have changed things up a bit! Oops?
> 
> I was SO disappointed when Penny's big reveal wasn't that she was a werewolf; the thought of the most popular girl in the school having such a big secret was too good of an opportunity to miss! Especially as her dorm room later goes on to marry a werewolf- I like to think that Tonks being so unaffected by Lupin's lycanthropy maybe came from sharing a dorm with Penny.
> 
> (It also means that Penny's biggest fear is effectively herself at this point)
> 
> About Tiffany's reaction to Penny's secret- this was SO hard to write, and I hope I got it right. There's been five or six versions of that section, the first few were almost... too introspective, and completely messed up the pacing, so hopefully I've cut enough of her thought process to keep the chapter moving, without making her reaction seem like it comes out of nowhere. Tiffany doesn't really do emotions like other people, so you know, that was a lot of fun. 
> 
> (And pairing always emotionally unstable/currently sleep deprived Tiff with temporarily emotionally unstable Penny? I struggled. I actually died. RIP me.)
> 
> For time scale, we're actually in October now during the story, and parts of last chapter were towards the end of September. It's a bit hard to show time moving at Hogwarts without the holidays beyond literally stating the date! So Penny has been through one transformation at school already, and this will be her second. 
> 
> Finally a note on McGonagall: after reading that to become an animagus requires holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month, I struggle to believe that she didn't know the marauders were trying to become animagi for Lupin. I don't think she knows that they succeeded, but I think she knows they tried it. Hence the conversation at the end! 
> 
> P.S. Don't hate me for making Pen a werewolf :P


	7. The Three Broomsticks

Tiffany is… well ‘sat’ wouldn’t really be the right word for it; she’s hooked her legs over the arm of an armchair, reclining back as she reads another fourth year textbook (courtesy of Bill Weasley) while other Ravenclaws bustle around getting ready for their Hogsmeade trip when Flitwick finds her. Flitwick coughs and she turns her head to face him, fountain pen held between her teeth.

 

“Miss Pemberton.”

 

“Oh hey, Sir.” She mumbles around her pen. He seems slightly apprehensive, although Tiffany supposes that is to be expected. She has a tendency to shout.

 

“I believe you have earned the right to go to Hogsmeade.” He tells her, though his tone of voice seems to carry a hint of dissatisfaction with the turn of events. It takes Tiffany a while to register what has been said to her, but when it clicks, her face lights up like a Christmas tree and she’s on her feet in seconds, textbook and parchment falling to the carpeted floor along with the pen that drops out of her mouth.

 

“Thank you, Sir!” She stammers, a little high strung still from the last three cups of coffee.

 

(What Andre doesn’t know won’t hurt him)

 

“However; if I catch you breaking any more rules, or drinking any more potions to stay awake- no do not interrupt me, Miss Pemberton- I will revoke these privileges.” His voice is stern, and Tiffany nods in what she hopes is a sincere manner. He sighs, shakes his head, and walks off. Rowan eagerly approaches her now, holding Tiffany’s coat and bag so that they can go to Hogsmeade as soon as possible. They head out of the common room to find Andre waiting for them.

 

“Ladies.” He says, bowing sarcastically and offering them an arm each. Rowan giggles as she takes his right arm while Tiffany rolls her eyes and takes his left.

* * *

 

In the past, Tiffany has complained about her friends’ dramatic behaviour, but in all honesty walking into Hogsmeade on Andre’s arm is a fantastic way to feel like royalty.

 

“First order of business, I’m taking you both shopping.” Andre states firmly, and Tiffany and Rowan both roll their eyes.

 

“Andre, I need to speak to Rosmerta!”

 

“And you can once I get you both decent coats.”

 

“What’s wrong with our coats?” Rowan asks, sounding hurt.

 

“They’re just… bland.” He says, wrinkling his nose. “I can’t let two of the most popular girls in the year go around looking like you do.”

 

“As long as we make it quick.” Tiffany acquiesces.

* * *

 

Andre’s idea of quick is very different to Tiffany’s idea of quick, but thankfully they still have time to speak to Rosmerta in the Three Broomsticks. Rowan seems to end up carrying everyone’s shopping bags, which she complains is unfair, but Tiffany promises to give her some of her Honeydukes sweets, so they soon stop whining.

 

Tiffany pushes open the door to the Three Broomsticks, and feels like a wall of noise has just smacked her in the face. It’s entirely unpleasant, but at least there’s a promise of butterbeer, which she’s been dying to try.

 

Oh, and the opportunity to ask about her brother.

 

Hagrid spots them, and waves them over to his table where he seems to be drinking alone. He ushers them all to sit down, and dutifully feigns interest in what they bought earlier (although, Tiffany supposes, while Hagrid isn’t a fashionable man, his interest may be genuine in that he always seems to care about the students at Hogwarts). After a few attempts from Tiffany to get the bar maid’s attention, Hagrid takes pity on her.

 

“Rosmerta!” He calls out, deep voice easily catching the woman’s attention. “I’ve got someone here who would like to ask you a question!”

 

“And for some butterbeers!” Rowan chimes in, letting out a huff of pain as Andre elbows her in the side.

 

“I see,” Rosmerta says, navigating her way through her patrons to come to the table. The woman has blonde hair, and it looks pretty enough, but Tiffany thinks that Penny’s hair is still prettier. “And… oh, you look so much like your brother.”

 

“Uh… thanks?” Tiffany isn’t sure how she should feel about that. “I’m Tiffany, and well… Hagrid said that Jacob spent a lot of time here. I was wondering if… you knew anything about what he was up to or where he might be?”

 

“I remember him… Jacob was a quiet boy. Sweet. He was always writing in these little notebooks,” Rosmerta says thoughtfully. “Then one day a pair of Aurors came in and dragged him out the door… The only thing he left behind was a black quill.”

 

Beside Tiffany, Rowan goes still, and Andre looks at the girls with confusion.

 

“A black quill?” Tiffany repeats. “Do you still have it?”

 

“Somewhere, I suppose.” Rosmerta puts a finger to her lip. “It’ll be a while. I’ll get Susie to bring you your drinks while I go look in the back. Four Butterbeers?”

 

“Perfect. Thank you, Rosmerta!” Hagrid smiles, and Rosmerta walks towards the bar, briefly talking to a younger barmaid with dark hair before vanishing into a back room. The barmaid busies herself getting the butterbeers ready, and soon arrives at the table with them. Rowan and Andre eagerly grab for theirs, while Tiffany hesitates, watching Hagrid. She’s heard this drink is delicious, but it looks more like her Father’s alcohol than anything else that she’s seen. For his part, Hagrid winks at her, and takes a swig. Tiffany copies.

 

“This is wonderful!” She exclaims after her first mouthful, unaware of the foam on her upper lip that Andre giggles at.

 

They spend the next few minutes chatting idly about nothing much at all, Tiffany yawning and leaning on Rowan after the first twenty minutes pass. She’s definitely awake, but the warm drink and friendly atmosphere is enough to make anyone feel relaxed.

 

Eventually Rosmerta returns, triumphantly brandishing the black quill. Tiffany perks up, and Rowan grins beside her while Andre continues to look confused.

 

“Here you are, Sweetheart,” Rosmerta says setting down the quill on the table. “How are the butterbeers?”  


“They’re perfect, thank you!” Rowan smiles sweetly up at the woman. Tiffany barely pays attention, opting instead to draw her wand. Using magic outside of school isn’t really allowed, but in a busy pub filled with of age wizards and witches there’s no real way for the spell to be traced back to her.

 

“What are you doing?” Andre whispers in alarm, as Hagrid pretends not to see what she’s doing.

 

“Reparifage!” Tiffany hisses quietly, and grins as the black quill turns into a notebook with Jacob’s name scribbled on the top corner. “Knew it.”

 

“Hey uh, Tiffany?” Rowan warns, but Tiffany is too busy opening the notebook to notice the looming figure that reaches out and snatches it from her hands.

 

“I’ll be taking that now.” Filch sneers, stuffing the notebook into his baggy grey coat while Tiffany stares blankly down at her now-empty hands. “Professor Snape’s orders.”

 

“That’s not fair!” Andre protests, still confused about the events happening but angry on his friend’s behalf.

 

“Yeah, give it back!” Rowan scowls, turning to Hagrid and Rosmerta for assistance, but they only shake their heads sadly as Filch chuckles nastily as he leaves. Tiffany feels tears well up in her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry, Tiffany,” Rosmerta says kindly. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

 

“I’m good. Fine. I’m just… gonna go.” She pushes past Rowan as she gets up, insisting her friends stay to finish their butterbeers even as she stubbornly refuses to let tears fall, tilting her head back slightly. “Bye!”

* * *

 

Tiffany has to beg Madam Pomfrey to let her visit Penny, but she wins the argument in the end, so it’s worth it.

 

For secrecy’s sake, Penny is kept to small private room away from the main ward. If she was spotted in the Hospital Wing every full moon, then other students might get suspicious and realise her condition.

 

Penny is asleep when Tiffany sits down next to her bed, but this doesn’t last long. Looking at how pale Penny looks doesn’t sit well with Tiffany, so instead of doing the nice thing and letting her sleep, Tiffany pokes at her cheek.

 

“I got you sweets,” She says instead of a greeting when Penny blinks open her eyes and pushes herself to sit up.

 

“I thought you weren’t allowed to go to Hogsmeade?”

 

“Flitwick caved. Do you want chocolate frogs or fizzing whizbees?”

 

“Frogs.”

 

Tiffany tosses them into Penny’s lap, and waits with a smile as her friend opens the first

chocolate, quickly biting the frog’s head off before it can hop away and turning over the card. Penny shrugs, uninterested in the result and looks up at Tiffany, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times.

 

“Tiffany, your eyes!”

 

“I have them.”

 

“No I mean, why are they red?”

 

“That’s not important, how are you feeling?” Tiffany deflects, stealing the unwanted chocolate frog card from Penny’s lap, making a note to give it to Rowan later just in case.

 

“I feel as fine as I can right now. Everything aches but I’ve had potions for the pain and spent most of the day resting. Have you been crying?” Penny frowns, and Tiffany blushes under the glare.

 

“It’s dumb.”

 

“If it was dumb you wouldn’t be upset.”

 

“Well uh… turns out Rosmerta had a notebook that belonged to Jacob, you know the owner of the Three Broomsticks? Yeah. Well she found it out, and I was going to read it, because well… that’s why I wanted to go to Hogsmeade, to find out stuff about Jacob and so this notebook is kind of important, you know? Anyway. Filch came and took it.”

 

Penny pauses for a moment, trying to digest all the information. “Can you repeat the main points of that but slower?”

 

“I found something that might help me find Jacob, but Filch took it before I could read it.”

 

“Ah, that doesn’t sound good,” Penny says, nodding. “Why did he take it?”

 

“Said it was on Snape’s orders.” Tiffany scrunches her nose in distaste. “It’s entirely unfair.”

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“Also are you sure you’re okay?” Tiffany asks, trying to get away from her own problems.

 

“I’m fine, Tiff. I just want to talk about non-werewolf related things for a bit. Tell me about what else you got up to in Hogsmeade!”

 

Tiffany happily obliges, complaining at length with a smile on her face how Andre made her and Rowan buy new coats, digging through her shopping bags to find her purchases to show off to Penny, who gives her approval. Madam Pomfrey even lets Tiffany stay until dinner time, assuring her that Penny will be out of the Hospital Wing in the morning when she tries to convince the matron to let her stay longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is late and I'm sorry! Last minute plans to move my things into my new university house and a cinema trip I was not informed I was going on put me behind. On the bright side, I can now move in my room, and I found my wrist brace out so now that mild carpal tunnel can suck it! 
> 
> (I should probably just not type as much as I do but that's no fun)
> 
> \- I love giving Andre scenes. I have a bit of a soft spot for him, but including him in stuff now is sometimes weird because aside from getting stuck in the ice he didn't have much to do last year, so he's a bit confused about what's happening. He's fine though.
> 
> \- you may notice I cut out a lot of scenes from this chapter! I... didn't like them in the game, I'll be honest. And it messed around too much with my timeline, so I cut it. I'm pretty sure in the books that Hogsmeade weekends are only once or twice a term, so it didn't make sense for them to be so backwards and forwards. 
> 
> \- Tiffany crying about Filch taking the notebook is something I wasn't sure on for a bit, but then I remembered that she's still very tired from all the extra studying at this point which tends to make people more emotional, so I kept it. 
> 
> \- Penny's true skill lies in her ability to make people talk. This is why she knows all the gossip at Hogwarts. (Also poor Pen not being able to go to Hogsmeade- at least she can sleep and drink as many wiggenweld potions as she needs while everyone else gets into trouble)


	8. Filching From Filch

“Wotcher, Tiffany.”

 

Tiffany turns to face someone who by all extents and purposes looks just like Penny, and if she didn’t know any better she would say they were Penny. The eyes give it away though. Penny’s eyes are blue.

 

“Hi, Tonks.”

 

Tonks has brown eyes. That she forgot about.

 

Blonde hair changes to pink, returning to its cropped style, while their shoulders bulk up a little more; two years of playing as a chaser has given Tonks a little more muscle than the other girls in their friend group.

 

“How did you know it was me?” The metamorphmagus whines, sitting next to Tiffany at the Ravenclaw table.

 

“I’m psychic,” Tiffany replies. “What’s up?”

 

“Penny told me about what happened in Hogsmeade with Filch, and I realised that I may be able to assist you in getting your notebook back.” Tonks waggles her eyebrows mischievously.

 

“Why do I have a feeling that whatever you suggest could land me in serious trouble?”

 

“Because you know me so well!” Tonks grins. Tiffany mentally prepares herself for whatever plan Tonks has come up with. “So, you need to find a way into Filch’s office. My plan is to create a diversion using a handy-dandy joke I got from Zonko’s, so that you can slip in and grab your notebook!”

 

Tiffany blinks in surprise. “That’s actually… not the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”

 

“It’s much better than casting the shrinking charm on yourself, that’s for sure,” Tonks says with a knowing glint in her eye. Tiffany blushes.

 

“That was Rowan’s idea.”

 

“You still went with it, though.”

 

“Thanks for reminding me.”

 

“You’re welcome!”

 

“So what’s this thing you’re going to use to distract Filch with?” Tiffany asks, shifting in her seat to better face Tonks. Tonks shifts her bag onto her lap, and reaches in, wincing in pain before bringing out a fanged Frisbee.

 

“This bad boy should do the trick.” Tonks winks. “I actually got it to prank Merula with after she called my Mum a filthy blood traitor, but I’ll save that prank for another day.”

* * *

 

Tiffany waits round the corner from Filch’s office, waiting for Tonks to set the plan in motion. Tonks has morphed herself to look like a slightly older student, with sensible brown hair and stern features. Tiffany isn’t sure if Tonks has chosen to look like someone else in particular or not, but that’s irrelevant to the plan- Tonks knocks on Filch’s door, and when he answers she informs him of a ‘damaged painting’ that needs fixing. She’ll lead him away, and then when Filch is busy examining the painting, Tonks will use the fanged Frisbee to create as much distraction and destruction as possible to give Tiffany time to look for the notebook.

 

She hears the knock on the door, and the following conversation that largely consists of Filch grumbling about students having no respect, and then the footsteps leading away from the office signalling Tiffany’s chance. She walks to the door, only to find it locked.

 

“Alohomora!”

 

For a magical school, it seems odd that they don’t find other methods to keep doors locked. Tiffany is certain there’s a spell that can be used to prevent Alohomora from working, and wonders why they don’t use it more often.

 

She steps into the office, and blanches a little at the literal chains hanging from the ceiling. The room is dark and smells musty, dust gathering on the top of the many cabinets and storage units.

 

“Filch, I might hate you, but I even you deserve a better workspace than this,” Tiffany mutters, rifling through the first cabinet she sees. Nothing of any interest. It’s mostly toys and tricks from Zonko’s, and Tiffany nearly gets her nose bitten off by a tea cup that shoots towards her face. It would have succeeded if she hadn’t smacked it out of the air so that it shattered across the floor. Not a great idea, but at least her nose is intact even if she does have to spend a couple minutes cleaning up the mess. She switches her attention to the desk, but the top drawer only has a folded up blank piece of parchment. Probably just a scrap paper drawer.

 

She pulls on the door to another cabinet, but finds it locked. This must be it.

 

“Alohomora!”

 

She tugs it open. Right there is the notebook. Within her grasp. She looks behind her just in case someone has snuck in and is about to take it from her again. The room is empty.

 

“Hell yeah!” She cheers, grabbing the book greedily with both hands. She closes the cabinet, and scrabbles through the keys on Filch’s desk until she finds one that fits, relocking the door so no one notices her presence in the room. She darts out of the office, heading straight for her common room.

* * *

 

“Why are you out of breath?” Chester Davies towers over Tiffany, scrutinising her with his arms folded. She’s only just managed to enter the common room and she’s already being interrogated.

 

“No reason?” She smiles innocently. “Why?”

 

“I don’t trust you.” He squints his eyes, “Also, you have a guilty face.”

 

“Do not!”

 

“Do too!”

 

“Do not!” Tiffany stamps her foot. Chester rolls his eyes.

 

“Well, as long as you’re not in any trouble… you aren’t, are you? Okay good. I guess you can go do… whatever.”

 

“Thank you.” Tiffany shoots off towards her dormitory, a slight sting in her ankle. She pushes open the door, and slips inside, immediately leaping onto Rowan’s bed. Rowan startles, and drops the book she was reading. Tiffany holds up her brother’s notebook triumphantly, grinning.

 

“That’s great, but you just got blood on my sheets.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Tiffany looks down. There’s the tiniest - and she really means the tiniest – spot of blood on Rowan’s bed. She looks at her ankle to find the tiniest pinprick, a small red dot that she wipes away with one finger.

 

“Really, Rowan, really?” She asks, rolling her eyes. “If it bothers you that much you can use my bed tonight. Now can we please look at this notebook?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a day late and shorter than usual- I started a project with a friend recently and I was using that to procrastinate this. Oops?
> 
> I'm not entirely sure the fanged frisbee is necessary to the plan to get into Filch's office, but you know, Tonks would disagree with me on that point. She just wants to terrorise Filch, is that too much to ask? 
> 
> Also the spot of blood from Tiffany's ankle is from the tea cup shattering on the ground. In case that wasn't clear.


	9. Tulip Karasu

“It’s in code again!” Rowan says, flicking through the pages of the notebook while Tiffany lounges at her feet.

 

“Is it the same one as before?”

 

“Yeah, it looks exactly like the secret message in the ice from before,” Rowan replies. “I should be able to decipher it easily enough.”

 

“Maybe Jacob left the message in the ice then…”

 

“Maybe. Pass me that book, would you?”

 

Tiffany hums as she rolls onto her front, and reaches for the book on the ground, the _Advanced Rune Translation 3 rd edition _by Yuri Blishen. She hands it to Rowan, who immediately starts making quick work of the code. Admittedly, since taking Ancient Runes Tiffany should be able to do this herself, but she knows Rowan likes to prove her intelligence, and it gives Tiffany a few minutes to relax while her friend does the work.

 

“These boggarts- hey Tiffany, listen. ‘These boggarts must have something to do with the curse protecting the next vault, which means someone found it first. I’ll move my research to the abandoned room on the fifth floor to avoid Filch, and R. If I don’t hurry, Hogwarts is doomed.’ Someone must have tampered with the vault again!”

 

“Which means we need to find that room Jacob mentioned if we want any more clues about how to break its curse.” Tiffany says. “Does it say anything else?”

 

“Yeah, but it’ll take time to decipher it. You go on ahead and look for that room.”

 

“Aye Captain.”

 

* * *

Hogwarts has far too many rooms. This is a problem. Tiffany has spent at least twenty minutes opening doors on the fifth floor, but to no avail. A few empty classrooms and cleaning cupboards, but nothing to suggest a secret hide out for Jacob.

 

“Tiff?”

 

Tiffany jumps and turns around. Penny is watching her looking faintly amused, and also considerably healthier than when Tiffany had last seen her the other day.

 

“Hey, Pen.”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Nothing!”

 

“Uh huh.” Damn Penny and her patient looks. Tiffany should probably learn how to resist Penny’s stupidly pretty face, but for now she has no defence.

 

“… I’m looking for a room Jacob used to use when he was researching the Vaults. It’s somewhere along the fifth floor, but I don’t have anything else to go on.” Tiffany confesses.

 

“I think I might know the room you’re looking for,” Penny says after a moment’s pause. “Come on!”

 

Tiffany follows Penny – it’s not like there’s any other help she’ll get – and is led down the Eastern corridor until they come to a room tucked away, inconspicuous except for the large padlock with two keyholes.

 

“I’m not certain, but at a guess I’d say this is the place you’re looking for?” Penny leans against the wall.

 

“Knowing my luck, probably.” Tiffany aims her wand at the lock. “Alohomora!”

 

Nothing happens.

 

“Huh.” Penny tries next, only to get the same result. “Weird!”

 

“Shall I kick it?”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

Tiffany kicks the lock. Predictably, nothing happens. Annoyed, she fiddles with the lock, and manages to spot engraved writing.

 

_Property of Tulip Karasu_

“Aww man. Gotta go bug Tulip.”

 

“Want me to tag along? I have nothing better to do.”

 

“Sure!”

 

“Great!” Tiffany pauses. She’s not entirely sure where Tulip even is right now- sure she’s shared a room with her for the past few years, but Tulip largely keeps to herself, and rarely partakes in any form of gossip with the others. She could probably wait until tonight, but somehow Tiffany expects Jane and Lottie won’t appreciate trying to sleep while an interrogation takes place in their room.

 

“You don’t know where she is, do you?”

 

“Nope.”  


“Come on, she told me once that she likes to spend time in the transfiguration classroom.”

 

Tiffany is very glad to have Penny as a friend.

* * *

 

Thankfully Penny is right, and they find Tulip sat at a desk in their usual transfiguration classroom writing quickly as her pet toad sits next to the inkpot, with something strapped to its back.

 

“A dungbomb.” Penny supplies helpfully. “Tonks likes to leave them under my pillow.”

 

“Why am I not surprised?” Tiffany shakes her head. “Hey, Tulip!”

 

Tulip ignores her. Which is very, very rude.

 

“Tulip!”

 

“Yes, Tiffany Pemberton?” Tulip replies without looking up. Tiffany glances at Penny who shrugs unhelpfully.

 

“You have a… um… a padlock? On a room I kind of need to get in?” Tiffany doesn’t like feeling unnerved like this, but Tulip’s always been an oddball and it makes conversing with her feel like walking on eggshells. “I was hoping to borrow the key?”

 

“Little flower… smells so sweet, so soft, so delicate.”

 

“What?”

  
“I think she’s referring to you,” Penny says, amusement dancing in her eyes. Tiffany scowls.

 

“Hey, I am not delicate!” She snaps, stomping her foot on the ground to emphasise her point while Penny giggles next to her.

 

“Shh. I’m very busy. Talk to Dennis until I’m finished.”

 

“You want me to talk to your toad?” Tiffany asks, utterly tired of the situation already. “You want me to talk to your toad with a dungbomb strapped to its back? Is that really what you want me to do?”

 

“That sounds accurate,” Tulip replies mildly. “If you can find a way to disarm the bomb, then I’ll know you’re worthy of my help.”

 

Tiffany rolls her eyes dramatically at Penny, who finally seems to be taking the situation seriously.

 

“It um… it looks like it’s going to go off soon, Tiffany.”

 

Oh dear.

 

Well, looks like it’s time to get dirty then. Tiffany crouches down to look at the situation better. Honestly she has no idea how dungbombs work, and any meddling could set it off sooner. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but the smell wouldn’t be great if Tonks’ escapades are anything to go by.

 

However, it’s tied to Dennis only with a thin bit of string, that Tiffany easily unties in seconds, freeing the poor toad.

 

“Do I have much longer to figure this out, Pen?”

 

“Maybe thirty seconds?”

 

Well, nothing for it. Tiffany takes the bomb, runs to the door, throws it open, and throws the bomb down the blessedly empty corridor. Now no one can say it was her that did it, and with Tulip’s reputation it shouldn’t be too hard to sneak away without getting the blame. She slams the door shut again, wincing when she hears it go off, and even from this distance she can faintly smell the odour of a cow pat. Gross. Tiffany wipes her hand clean against the desk that Jane normally occupies, and looks at Tulip who doesn’t look all that impressed.

 

“You didn’t disarm it.”

 

“I took an interpretive approach to the problem. Now stop playing around and just help me, please?”

 

Tulip doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, but Penny thankfully steps in to save the day.

 

“Isn’t quick thinking a sign of intelligence, Tulip? Besides, Tiffany has proven herself worthy of your time by breaking into a Cursed Vault and being told off in front of the whole school. I know you’re jealous about that!”

 

“That’s true. I always have wanted to be told off in front of a captive audience,” Tulip muses, considering Penny’s points.

 

“Why would you want that?” Tiffany asks, completely confused with Tulip’s… well, everything.

 

“Because rules are made to be broken, Tiffany Pemberton,” Tulip chides, “and Hogwarts has far too many rules. I hate to admit it, but you inspired me. When Dumbledore made his speech I knew I had to be the next one to open a Cursed Vault. I’d already started looking for the Vaults when Ben Copper went missing last year, and found your brothers old room. To make sure no one else could interfere with my search I put a padlock on the door that needed two keys. I kept one key, and agreed to give the other to my accomplice.”

 

“Who is your accomplice?” Tiffany asks.

 

“I need to know I can trust you before I tell you that, Tiffany Pemberton.”

 

With that, Tulip rises to her feet and walks out the back door of the classroom, Dennis perched precariously on her shoulder.

* * *

 

“You know, I’m not sure if I like you yet, Tiffany Pemberton, but I think I can trust you.”

 

“We’ve shared a room for over two years, and you’ve only just decided to trust me?”

 

“Does that bother you, Tiffany Pemberton?” Tulip raises an eyebrow, and takes a bite out of her sandwich.

 

“Maybe.” Tiffany tears the crusts off of her own, ripping them into little pieces and then rolling those into balls of dough between her fingers. “You want to tell me who your accomplice is now?”

 

“It was Merula Snyde.”

 

Tiffany stops her messing. “Excuse me? I thought you were too smart to trust that bitch!”

 

“Merula is a genius witch. You might not like her personality, but you have to acknowledge her skill.”

 

“Yeah, her great skill of not finding the Ice Vault and also losing every duel she’s had against me?” Tiffany scoffs. “She’s decent at potions, I’ll give her that.”

  
“Yes, well. Merula and I had a falling out last year, and she still has the other key to your brother’s room. The question is, how do we get Merula’s key?”

 

“We could steal it? I snuck into the Gryffindor common room before, I don’t see why I couldn’t sneak into the Slytherin one too,” Tiffany offers, she’ll have time to be angry with Tulip once she’s got into Jacob’s research room.

 

“Hmm… that seems risky. I’ll see if I can come up with anything.”

 

“I… uh. Okay then.”

* * *

 

Tulip actually sends Tiffany a note telling her to meet her in the Courtyard, despite the fact that they share most of their classes and a dormitory every night. It’s a little annoying, but Tiffany indulges in Tulip’s way, because it gets her one step closer to the Vault, which in turn is one step closer to finding Jacob.

 

“Did you come up with a plan then?” Tiffany asks, hands in her pockets.

 

“I think so, but she’s always got Barnaby and Ismelda with her, and they’re both ruthless. We’ll need to be careful of them,” Tulip informs her seriously, and Tiffany is sure she can pick up a hint of distaste as Tulip says Ismelda’s name. It’s an interesting fact she files away. “Keep your head down, and listen closely, Merula is over there – no don’t look she might see you – and we can spy on them for now. It might reveal something important.”

 

Tiffany doesn’t really have anything else to do, so she may as well do as Tulip says. Ismelda seems to be talking and well… she’s being herself.

 

“We should cast the Cruciatus Curse on Pemberton and her friends! That’ll make them talk, and then they’ll have to help us find the Vault.”

 

Tiffany feels herself go a little pale.

 

“Talking to you is torture. You have issues.” Merula scolds.

 

Tiffany snorts with laughter at this, and Tulip elbows her in the side, shushing her.

 

“Maybe we should ask Dumbledore to help us? He’s really smart.” Barnaby.

 

Tiffany bites her lip to stop herself from laughing, and her stomach is beginning to ache from supressed giggles as she clamps her hand over her mouth.

 

“Dumbledore wants everyone to stay away from the Vaults, remember?” Merula sounds very angry, and very tired, and Tiffany is struggling to breathe because this is golden.

 

“We could give him Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans! I heard he likes those.”

 

“Your brain is a Bertie Botts bean.” Merula snaps. Even Tulips giggles now, but quickly recovers even as Tiffany wipes tears from her eyes.

 

“Think we should get rid of her cronies first, or go straight for Merula?”

 

“Oh Tulip I don’t care.” Tiffany is at least honest, even if she is struggling to breathe. “I just want to listen to more of her suffering.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tiffany, I mean some of her friends are a little weird, but not like Tulip at all! 
> 
> Tulip is one of my favourite characters in game, and I think once Tiffany adjusts to Tulip's eccentricity they'll get on like a house on fire (that is, most of the time). Thankfully for now Tiffany has Penny to help her break the ice! Also, bonding over Merula's unfortunate situation with Barnaby and Ismelda is good too. I genuinely laughed at how ridiculous this scene was in the game, Barnaby was just too precious. 
> 
> I also noticed while writing this just how much Tiffany has changed from year 1 in how she treats Rowan. Year 1 Tiffany didn't like Rowan showing off, and now she actively tries to give Rowan opportunities to use her skills. I'm proud of her :)
> 
> Life update on the author- I bought a new sweater today. It's really nice and soft and was reduced to only £17.50, which is a good price because the shop I got it from is reallllly expensive. It's blue. Because... Ravenclaw. Sh.


	10. The Letter From No One

Tiffany normally tries to ignore the fact that she’s short, which is hard enough to do normally considering Rowan is like a beanstalk, and even harder to do when she’s been instructed to fetch something from the very top shelf in Zonko’s, while Tulip chats away with Tonks and the shop owner, Bilton Bilmes.

 

Her grand plan to get this ‘Ultimate Dungbomb’ has gone well so far, she’s able to grab the damn thing, but only after climbing up the shelves to get there, and she can’t figure out how to get down without dropping the bomb to free her hands, which could cause it to explode.  
  
Personally she thinks Tulip should have asked Bilmes to get this, but he’s not even noticed her scaling his shelves yet, so Tiffany is on her own.

 

“You need a hand?”

 

Talbott Winger is stood staring up at her, looking uninterested as usual. It’s a wonder she even knows his name; he rarely turns up at class and talks to virtually no one.

 

“No I’m perfectly fine! Of course I need a hand. Take this.” Tiffany passes down the bomb into his hands, and quickly climbs down a couple shelves before hopping off once she’s sure she’s low enough to avoid injuring herself. “Thanks.”

 

She holds out her hands expectantly for the dungbomb, and for a second she thinks Talbott is going to take it for himself, but eventually he hands it over.

 

“Whatever.” He stalks out of the shop, and Tiffany blinks.

 

_Geez, I thought I was unfriendly._

Tiffany walks on over to Tulip, handing over the box. She gratefully accepts it.

 

“Mr Bilmes, may I buy this please?” She asks, in a sickeningly sweet voice. Tiffany glances at her in surprise while the old man laughs heartily. So far Tiffany’s Zonko’s experience has been odd, and she’s not even been here for more than five minutes yet.

 

“Of course you may! Anything for my favourite troublemaker!”

 

“Hey!” Tonks actually seems offended, and Bilmes quickly makes amends.

 

“One of my favourite troublemakers, anyhow.”

 

People called Tiffany weird when she first started at Hogwarts, but she would like everyone to know that she is actually perfectly normal. These people are weird. Dear God can someone please come and save her?  

 

Tulip and Bilmes make their way over to the counter to complete their transaction.

 

“Isn’t this place so cool, Tiffany?” Tonks asks, clearly excited. “This is my favourite shop.”

 

“I would never have guessed,” Tiffany replies, “I take it you come here often? Penny mentioned something about dungbombs being placed under her pillow.”

 

Tonks snorts with laughter. “Yeah that was me, it was hilarious.”

 

Precisely Tiffany’s point. She is completely normal and sane.

* * *

 

Tulip answers the riddle to the door before Tiffany even gets the opportunity to open her mouth, which she may be sulking about a little, but that’s neither here nor there. They’re soon being ambushed by both Rowan and Andre, who returned from Hogsmeade far earlier than any of their other friends to try and fit in some extra studying.

 

“Tiffany!” Rowan seems particularly panicked, and waves a note in Tiffany’s face. “I found this, you should read it!”

 

Tulip looks intrigued, and nudges Tiffany in the side when she hesitates. Tiffany takes the note, unfolds it, and begins to read in her head with Tulip looking over her shoulder.

 

_Dear Tiffany Pemberton,_

_You are in grave danger. Your investigation into the Cursed Vaults has drawn the attention of a group who is not to be trifled with. Be careful, but remain courageous. I’m depending on you to find the final Vault before the others. I will assist you when I can. I hope the next time I deliver a message the circumstances are far less mysterious._

_Sincerely,_

_A Friend._

“Well… this is bizarre.”

 

“Who do you think wrote the letter?” Andre asks, and Tiffany only now realises that her friends must have already read this note before giving it to her. She should be annoyed, but she can’t say she wouldn’t have done the same in their shoes.

 

“I have no idea, maybe Dumbledore, but he’s already warned me away from the Vaults. He’d have no reason to hide himself.” Tiffany genuinely is perplexed. She folds the note neatly, and stuffs it into the pouch on her belt. “Unless this group is watching him too… Never mind, Rowan? Did you get what you wanted from Honeydukes?"

* * *

 

Tiffany isn’t even allowed to take more than three paces out of charms class before Tulip is grabbing her by the wrist and tugging her along the corridors, pulling her away from Rowan and Andre. She hopes this isn’t going to become a frequent side effect of being somewhat-friends with Tulip.

 

“Where are we going?” Tiffany asks, although she can guess.

 

“Shh!” Is all she gets as a reply. They round a corner, and Tiffany blinks the sunlight out of her eyes before being shoved behind a pillar. They’re in the courtyard, and by the fountain stands Merula, Barnaby, and Ismelda. Tulip is already bringing the jumbo dungbomb out of her bag. Tiffany goes to open her mouth to say something, but Tulip glares and shakes her head, pointing to their Slytherin classmates, and then casting _duro_ on the dungbomb under her breath.

 

“I’m casting the killing curse on the next Gryffindor I see,” Ismelda is saying, tossing her greasy hair as Merula rolls her eyes.

 

“You don’t even know that spell!” Merula snaps.

 

“I accidentally sat on a bowtruckle once…” Barnaby, contributing to the conversation the only way he knows how.

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ismelda asks, frowning and trying to make sense of the situation. Merula is starting to look like she wants new friends.

 

“I thought we were talking about killing things!”

 

“I hate you both.”

 

Tulip hands the dungbomb to Tiffany. “You do the honours.”

 

Tiffany grins, and with her right arm throws the dungbomb towards the Slytherins, grinning as it lands right in the middle of the group before exploding with a cloud of putrid green gas. The three Slytherins immediately start coughing, and bring their sleeves up to cover their faces. Ismelda and Barnaby bolt, trying to get away from the smell, but Merula looks around, and scowls as she spots Tulip stepping out from the hiding place, Tiffany following behind. Even from their distance, the smell is still quite awful, and Tiffany wrinkles her nose in disgust.

 

“Why am I not surprised?” Merula drawls, punctuating her sentence with a cough.

  
“Give us the key, Merula Snyde. I don’t know how long I can stand your stink,” Tulip demands, hands on her hips. Tiffany glances around, and is glad to see that the dungbomb has effectively cleared the whole courtyard. She’d rather not have an audience to another show down with Merula.

 

“Us? You weren’t good enough for me, so you had to work with Pemberton?” Merula sounds incredulous. “How does it feel to know I found your brother’s room before you?”

 

“I don’t really care, in all honesty,” Tiffany says, pulling a face. It’s a lie, but Merula doesn’t need to know that. “Can we have the key now?”

 

“Tell you what; I still want a rematch. So if you can beat me in a duel, I’ll consider giving you that key!” Merula looks smug, while Tiffany and Tulip roll their eyes.

 

“Fine.” Tiffany sighs dramatically and draws her wand. “Let’s go.”

 

Merula’s main problem with duelling, is that her face betrays her. Even when she tries to be sneaky her eyes squint and her lip twitches, and Tiffany knows to prepare to dodge.

 

“Flipendo!”

 

Tulip leaps out of the way, still standing next to her while Tiffany just ducks under the spell.

 

“Depulso!”

 

Merula unfortunately dodges, which is entirely unfair in Tiffany’s opinion. That would have been a great way to win the duel. There’s no time to mull over this though as two more knockback jinxes are fired at her, and even though she dodges the first the second hits her squarely in the chest. It doesn’t knock her off her feet this time though – she steps back with the impact.

 

“Expelliarmus!”

 

Once again, just like their first duel, it’s over when Merula’s wand goes flying out of her hand. It lands in the fountain with a satisfying splash. Tiffany turns to Tulip who is applauding her, and bobs a little curtsy. Merula grumbles to herself as she retrieves her wand.

 

“Hey look at that, I beat you again!” Tiffany taunts, hands in her pockets and rocking back on her feet. “You might want to try using some other spells once in a while. Anyway, the key?”

 

“Oh shut up. Here,” Merula hands it back, “I already got what I needed from that mental case’s room!”

 

“We could still use your help, Merula.” Tulip steps forward. A wise move, Tiffany was considering on attacking Merula again for her comment.

 

“I don’t help traitors!” Merula shouts back, hands balled into fists before turning her attention back to Tiffany. “Watch this one, Pemberton. It’s only a matter of time before she stabs you in the back too. Now get out of my way so I can go and shower.”

  
Merula pushes past the, managing to knock Tiffany in the spot where she’d been hit with the knockback jinx, and Tiffany lets out a small painful huff of air. Tulip looks especially smug with the situation, but glances apologetically at Tiffany.

 

“Are you alright, Tiffany Pemberton?” She asks. Tiffany nods. “Good. Let’s get to your brother’s room!”

 

They grin, and there’s a noticeable spring in their step as they make their way up the Grand Staircase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes!
> 
> Again I've tried to cut down on the trips to Hogsmeade, so obtaining the jumbo dung bomb was a little different, and less of a big deal. Although it does mean I ended up with Tonks and Tulip in the same place earlier than planned! They won't interact much yet though. I think. There are a lot of characters I'm having trouble keeping up.
> 
> For people who have been reading as I upload- Talbott is introduced! Yay! I do plan on going back and slipping him into the sorting ceremony in year 1, but I probably won't get around to that for a while. Luckily the story line has him described as a 'loner' so I can avoid bringing him up too often, but I want people to know who he is before the animagus plot line. (That's something I won't really touch again until year 6- McG has promised Tiffany to teach her after her OWLs, so it'll go down a little differently here!)
> 
> Year 5 characters might also start to show up a bit more- I think I mentioned one in passing, and there's one who I have to figure out exactly how to work into the story. I won't give names or houses though considering some people might be avoiding the data mined info.  
> (I am very thankful though that Beatrice Haywood is the age I was going to put her at! I wasn't sure if we'd get to meet her, and the info from the data miners matches my own ideas so I can keep my post-battle-of-hogwarts-oneshot! Which won't be released for a while... and by a while I mean a long time) 
> 
> And now about the note! Tiffany doesn't really seem to fussed about it yet, I think she's a little bit in denial mode- "if I don't think about it, it's not a problem", which is... definitely one way to deal with learning there's a mysterious group spying on you. Or not deal with it. It's a weird situation, and these guys are still 13. They don't quite know how to handle things yet. 
> 
> Finally- Merula really needs to improve her duelling skills. Jeez, girl. If you're going to challenge someone to a duel every year you might want to practice a bit more!


	11. Jacob's Room

It’s late, and most other students have been in bed for a while. Tiffany had tried to rouse Rowan to join her and Tulip on this particular adventure, but she’d only rolled over and waved the other girls away, so they decided to let her sleep.

 

“So… What did Merula take from Jacob’s room?” Tiffany asks quietly as they sneak along the corridor.

 

“What was that?” Tulip asks, and Tiffany isn’t sure if she genuinely didn’t hear, or if she’s playing dumb.

 

“Merula said she got what she needed from Jacob’s room? I was wondering if you knew what that was?”

 

“She’s lying,” Tulip says firmly. “We used his room to study the vaults because it was full of valuable information and research, but there was nothing worth taking.” She pauses, putting a thoughtful finger to her lips. “At least, I don’t think there was.”

 

They come to a halt outside the door, and both withdraw a key each. Tiffany takes a deep breath.

 

“I haven’t felt this close to Jacob since he disappeared.”

 

“Are you sure you want to do this? You might not like what you find.”

 

“I promised Mum I’d find him,” Tiffany says. “Besides, I want to know why he was looking for the Vaults.” To avoid looking at Tulip, she focuses on putting the first key into the lock. When Tulip adds the second and turns it, the padlock comes loose, and they open the door. The room is dark, and Tiffany can’t make anything out until what looks like smoke swirls in front of her eyes, and forms into a humanoid shape. Tulip gasps, and steps back. The figure in front of Tiffany draws back its hood, to reveal a familiar face, only unlike the round cheeks and perfect smile that Tiffany remembers Jacob having, the skin is rotting and falling away, and there’s a mad look in his eyes and he steps closer to her.

 

“Hello, Tiff.”

 

Tiffany grips her wand tighter, but finds her legs unable to move.

 

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the rumours were true.”

 

He leans forwards, their noses nearly touching.

 

“All of them.”

 

Tulip tugs on her wrist, and pulls her out into the corridor. She slams the door shut, and gets to work replacing the padlock while Tiffany shakes, and tries to remember how to breathe. There’s a brief moment of stillness while Tulip leans against the door, trying to gather her own senses.

 

“It was a boggart.”

 

Tiffany looks up.

 

“It was just a boggart.” Tulip frowns. “Was that…?”

 

“It was Jacob,” Tiffany confirms, nodding once. “Do you remember the spell Sprout used when that boggart attacked Penny in Herbology? Rid… Riddikulus?”

 

“Oh! Yes!” Tulip says, smiling. “I’ll see if I can find a book with the instructions for that spell, and then we can use it to get rid of the boggart!”

 

They grin at one another, but both let out yelps of fright as another figure looms over them. It’s Snape. Their response was entirely justified.

 

“Tulip Karasu, Tiffany Pemberton…” He drawls, looking down his greasy nose at them. “I should have known I’d find you two here. Your brother was the most disobedient student Hogwarts has ever had since James Potter. You may have overtaken him. Stay away from this corridor, and give up your search for the Vaults or I will see to it that you share his fate. Ten points from Ravenclaw… each. Now return to your common room.”

 

With that he stalks away, not even bothering to escort them back to Ravenclaw tower to ensure their obedience. Tiffany and Tulip wait for him be out of earshot before springing up their conversation again.

 

“What a dick,” Tiffany comments, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

 

“Hm, yes,” Tulip agrees.

* * *

 

Madam Pince is nothing like the librarian back home.

 

Mrs Cooper is a lovely old lady with wire spectacles and fluffy white hair who is always delighted to see someone enter the library, and ready with a thousand answers for any question you might have. Madam Pince on the other hand, is stern, and unfriendly, and looks like she might murder you if you so much as glance at a book the wrong way.

 

“We need your help, Madam Pince,” Tiffany says quietly, Tulip stood next to her.

 

“I’m busy cleaning up the mess of the last student who asked for my help. What is it?” Pince doesn’t even look up from the work she’s doing at her desk. Rude.

 

“We’re trying to learn the boggart banishing charm, riddikulus,” Tulip informs her.

 

“Books about Defence Against the Dark Arts are shelved at the back of the library. Find them yourselves, quietly.” Pince tuts a few times, and Tiffany and Tulip take this as a signal to dismiss themselves. They to the back of the library, and start leafing through books that look promising.

 

For a magical creature so common they can occur in any old building, there’s a surprising lack of information on them. Or at least, on the lower shelves. Tulip nudges Tiffany in the side from where she’s reading about dark creatures (dementors, Tiffany decides, are far more terrifying that boggarts) to point out a book on a higher shelf, called ‘ _Banishing boggarts’._ It’s a wonder Tulip managed to spot it. The book is tiny, likely a part of a series in dealing harmful magical pests if Tiffany were to guess.

 

“Do you want a boost?” Tiffany asks, after a failed attempt to grab the book. “I can’t reach it.”

 

“No need.” An arm appears seemingly out of nowhere to pluck the book off the shelf. Chester looks down at Tiffany disapprovingly. “What’s this I hear about two troublemakers losing us twenty house points last night?”

  
“How’d you know about that?” Tiffany asks, accepting the book.

 

“Magical prefect powers,” He says drily. “What do you need this book for?”

  
“If you hadn’t noticed, there are quite a lot of boggarts hanging around the school,” Tiffany comments, earning herself a flick on the forehead.

 

“Don’t be cheeky!” Chester scolds. “Now be good, both of you. Have fun studying boggarts.”

 

He shoos them away, and they both stick their tongues out at him as they head over to check the book out of the library.

* * *

 

“Hide me!”

 

Tiffany and Tulip turn to see Charlie running towards them, looking more panicked that Tiffany has ever seen him before.

 

“What’s wrong?” Tiffany asks, ignoring how confused Tulip seems to be. Apparently Tulip wasn’t quite aware of just how odd Tiffany’s friends are.

 

“Luisa just asked me out.” He says, trying to duck out of sight any time someone vaguely resembling Luisa walks by. “I ran away.”

 

“Are you sure you’re a Gryffindor?” Tulip asks, raising an eyebrow. “That doesn’t seem like a brave thing to do.”

 

“We should start calling you Ben.” Tiffany grins. “Come on, if you’re not too much of a scaredy-cat you can join us.”

 

“What are you up to?”

 

“We’re going to look in the Artefact room to see if there are any boggarts there,” Tulip tells him. “We want to practice the boggart banishing charm.”

 

“That sounds far less terrifying than romance. Lead the way!”

* * *

 

Tiffany happily sits atop a barrel swinging her legs as she watches Tulip and Charlie opening cupboards and trunks trying to find a boggart.

 

“How come you aren’t looking?” Charlie whines, recovered from his previous scare of someone wanting to date him.

 

“Because my boggart is really scary. I won’t be as scared if the boggart turns into your worst fears, so it’ll be easier to practice riddikulus!” Tiffany says smugly, reading a chapter on correct wand movement for riddikulus and tracing the figure in the air.

 

“Are you two ready?” Tulip asks, wand at the ready to unlock a drawer that seems to be rattling now that Tiffany’s paying attention to it. “Three, two, one! Alohomora!”

 

A wave of black smoke pours out of the cabinet as Tulip scrabbles backwards, and it forms into none other than Merula Snyde.

 

“Oh!” Charlie says in surprise. He’d backed himself into the corner of the room, but now he sees Tulip’s boggart is just Merula he’s more than happy to step forwards.

 

“I was your friend, Tulip! Your only friend! You betrayed me!” The Not-Merula stalks forwards towards Tulip, much like the Not-Jacob had done to Tiffany last night. “You’re a liar! A thief! A fraud! No wonder your parents sent you away!”

 

Tulip, for her part, is very brave. Instead of crying or running away, she turns to Tiffany. “Now!”

 

“Oh, right!” Tiffany points her wand. “Riddikulus!”

 

With a puff of smoke, the terrifying form of Merula is replaced with a version of the Slytherin that looks much cuter, wearing a pink knitted cardigan and wearing a bow in her hair. The make-up on this version of Merula is far nicer than the usual mess the girl puts on her face.

 

“Hi!”

 

Charlie snorts with laughter as Tiffany looks on in mild disgust.

 

“I love rainbows, and unicorns, and kittens, and lollies!” The Not-Merula giggles as Tulip covers her mouth with her hand to hide her own laughter. Not-Merula seems to start singing some sort of nursery rhyme, and everyone in the room loses any former composure. Offended, the boggart puffs into smoke. It’s about to try and find somewhere else to hide but Tiffany is struck with an idea.

 

“Charlie, step in front of Tulip a sec.”

 

Charlie does so, and the boggart reforms not as Luisa Abbot, like Tiffany expected, but Jane Potts, batting her eyelids flirtatiously.   
  
“Hi, Charlie!” It says, pouting. “Would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me? We could go to Madam Puddifoot’s, and hold hands, and kiss!” Charlie looks utterly terrified.

 

“Tiffany cast the spell!”

* * *

 

They head out towards the clock tower courtyard, while Tulip refuses to make eye contact with Tiffany. They round the corner to find their friends watching a very one-sided game of Wizard’s Chess between Rowan and Tonks, who still hasn’t figured out that she’s not particularly good at the game. Charlie darts forward to lend his help, and Tiffany takes the opportunity to ask Tulip about her boggart. She grabs her new friend by the arm, and they hang back from the group who are yet to notice their presence.

 

“So, Merula?”

 

Tulip shrugs. “Merula and I were friends the second we arrived at Hogwarts...”

 

“Go on?”

 

“Well, her parents are in Azkaban so she’s used to doing whatever she wants. Both my parents work in the Department of Law Enforcement, my whole life has been rules!” Tulip says. “When I came to Hogwarts, I was finally free to rebel, and though Merula and I came from opposite places we ended up the same.”

 

“That still doesn’t explain why she’s your biggest fear,” Tiffany says after Tulip pauses for longer than seems natural.

 

Tulip sighs. “We were friends, but then we heard about the Vaults. It was our mission to find them first to show everyone just how powerful we could be, but I betrayed her… I hid clues I found, and used what I found behind her back. I wanted all the glory for myself. When she found out, we fought. We decided that if neither of us could access your brother’s room, then no one could. We got the lock with two keys, took one each, and I’ve been avoiding her until we got the key back. She’s right to hate me, and she’s right that I’ll never have any friends because I don’t deserve them. I’m not afraid of Merula, I’m afraid of betraying anyone who tries to be my friend.”

 

Tiffany would respond to that, except there’s a loud cheer from Tonks and Charlie, whose combined efforts have won them the chess match; a first for the Hufflepuff. Even Rowan seems pleased, despite losing the game.

 

“I probably don’t deserve my friends either,” Tiffany says with a smile. “My cousin had to tell me off before I started being nice to Rowan. But… these idiots seem to be able to forgive just about anything, except maybe murder. So if you give them a chance and avoiding killing anyone, I reckon they’ll accept you.”

 

Tiffany looks over to Penny, who waves the two girls over enthusiastically. Tulip raises an eyebrow, but follows Tiffany anyway, happily sitting herself between Ben and Andre once they reach the group. Tiffany herself sits between Rowan and Penny, the latter looking at her disapprovingly, and Tiffany just knows she’s in trouble.

 

“What’s this I hear about you making Charlie face a boggart?”

* * *

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go first?” Tulip whispers as they unlock the door to Jacob’s room. “Your boggart is rather more disturbing that Merula.”

 

Tiffany shakes her head firmly. “No, I’d say Merula is worse.”

 

This is not exactly true. Seeing an evil, insane, zombified version of her brother isn’t exactly a walk in the park. In fact, it sucks. A lot. But Tiffany’s been ignoring rumours of her brother’s character and death for years now. Something as silly as a boggart isn’t going to upset her anymore now that she knows what it is.

 

She steps inside the room, squinting in the darkness. She almost decides to cast lumos when the boggart appears again. Her not-brother advances towards her again, eyes manic and cheeks sunken in. Tiffany glares.

 

_Funny thoughts, Tiffany._

“Riddikulus!”

 

There’s a puff of smoke, and the boggart turns into a much younger version of Jacob, cheeks still round with puppy fat, wearing a pair of underpants on his head in an imitation of a wrestler’s mask. Tulip snickers behind her, and Tiffany finds herself laughing at the memory of the story her parents told her – much to Jacob’s dismay – about the photo on the wall where he looks just like this. When her mother had told her the story, Jacob had glared petulantly at them both over his cereal, even as Tiffany wheezed and cackled until she could no longer breath. The boggart looks offended, and disappears in another puff of smoke.

  
“That was brilliant, Tiffany Pemberton!” Tulip praises, casting lumos. “Great work!”

 

Now Tiffany can see the room properly, and she’s taken aback by the sheer amount of dust. There’s broken furniture and papers scattered everywhere, and Tiffany has to admit that it makes the Artefact room look tidy.

 

“This place is a dump.”

 

“It’s always been like this,” Tulip says stepping over a tipped over chair. “I think your brother was too busy working on the Vaults to bother cleaning up. Personally, I like the chaotic aesthetic!”

 

“Right.” Tiffany sighs, and starts looking through the nearest set of drawers, determined to find something to help her find the next Vault. She soon stumbles upon a note, written in Jacob’s handwriting.

 

_When someone first tampered with the Vault, there were more boggarts in the library than anywhere else. The Vault must be there._

“It’s in the library!” Tiffany says helpfully, even though she knows Tulip is reading over her shoulder. “We should search there! Although…”

 

“Although what?”

 

“Maybe we should wait until after Christmas? There’s only two weeks left of term and Rowan’s stressing about end of term exams. We should probably be studying.”

 

“Oh, right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a long time to figure out what Tiffany's boggart would be- Voldemort just didn't sit right with me. Sure he's terrifying, but also he's 'dead' and at this stage very few people in the Wizarding world are aware that he could come back, and Tiffany isn't included in that list. So really, there's no reason for her to be more frightened of him than say, the rumours about Jacob being true.   
> Also when I really thought about her boggart, it ended up being absolutely terrifying. Evil insane zombie that is also your brother? No thanks. 
> 
> Also Charlie isn't scared of girls, he's scared of being forced into a romantic relationship! In case that's not clear. Expectations are scary, especially ones you don't think you can/want to fulfil. 
> 
> Next chapter will quite possibly be the Sir Nicholas side quest! I'm not 100% sure, but that's the way things are shaping up to be.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. The Circle of Trust

Tiffany is definitely not moping about her arithmancy test, although her friends still see fit to poke fun at her as she rests her head in her arms at the Ravenclaw table. She doubts she’s failed the test – she’s too smart for that – but it certainly hadn’t gone as smoothly as she’d hoped. Oh well. It’s probably fine, it’s only a third year exam. As long as she does better on her OWLs then she’ll have nothing to worry about.

 

“Hey, dipshit.”

 

The voice comes from behind her, but she doesn’t bother turning around to see who it is.

 

“Prefects shouldn’t swear, Chester.”

 

“Someone wants to see you, so stop moping and come with me.”

 

Tiffany says her goodbyes to her Ravenclaw friends, and with a muttered ‘I’m not moping’ follows Chester out of the Great Hall, where… oh no. Angelica Cole, the Gryffindor prefect who caught her sneaking into the Gryffindor common room last year, waits. Beside the prefect is Nearly Headless Nick, who looks pleased as ever to see, well, just about anyone. He’s almost as friendly as the Fat Friar.

 

“Hey,” Tiffany says, feeling a little awkward. “You wanted to see me?”

 

“Yes, thank you for coming out to see me, Tiffany,” Angelica says, sounding not at all angry about last year’s events. Thank God.

 

“What do you need?”

 

“Your older brother Jacob was a trouble maker, but truth be told, I actually admired him a lot. He was unusually brave for a Ravenclaw,” both Chester and Tiffany huff with mild offense, “and he did a lot to help me. So now I want to repay the favour by helping you with the Cursed Vaults.”

 

“Oh! That’s… nice?”

 

“I did some research, but most of what I found was just rumours. Rita Skeeter’s rubbish. However, I was talking to Sir Nicholas, and well he might know something that could help you.”

 

Tiffany and Chester turn to Nearly Headless Nick, and tilt their heads, hoping that he will elaborate.

 

“Ah yes! I have overheard occasional chatter over the centuries from those who have searched for the Vaults. It’s all a bit fuzzy, I’ve met many interesting individuals both living and deceased over the years… although I do seem to recall an old charms Professor by the name of Fortinbras, she would sometimes talk about the Vaults!”

 

“Oh, thank you!” Tiffany files this information away. She’ll have to write it down. “I’ll see what I can find about them after Christmas.”

 

“Wait, what?” Chester seems confused. “You mean you aren’t going to try and find more out now?”

 

Tiffany shakes her head. “I still have a charms exam, and a potions quiz to revise for, and then I’ll be going home for the holidays! Besides, if I’m always sneaking around looking for the Vaults, the Professors will try to stop me.”

 

Angelica and Chester look stunned, and Tiffany feels a little bit proud of herself. Admittedly, she does actually want to go looking now, but after that arithmancy exam, she doesn’t want to risk getting another mediocre mark. Unless…

 

Chester doesn’t normally approve of her looking for the Vaults, even if he doesn’t actively disprove either. Which means if he’s taking her to Angelica and Nearly Headless Nick so they can provide information, that means he must… want her to look for the Vaults?

 

Which means…

 

Tiffany has an idea.

 

“Although I suppose I could find time to look around the charms classroom if someone were to help me revise?” Tiffany smiles innocently at Chester. Angelica would be cool as a companion too, but… she knows how to annoy Chester.

 

He also knows how to annoy her, but that’s beside the point.

* * *

 

“What is the incantation of the wand lighting charm?”

 

“Lumos, obviously. That’s the first spell we learn here.” Tiffany is throwing things on the floor as she searches for clues about Fortinbras. Someone should really try clearing out these old books. Half of them are falling apart, or the ink is so faded they’re unreadable. “Glad to see you’re helping.”

 

“You only said you wanted help revising! What spell would you use to put out the light from the wand lighting charm?”

 

“Nox. Again, easy. Oh! Sir Nick? I think I’ve found something!” Tiffany holds up a book that looks like it’s on its last legs’ last legs. But clearly enough she makes out writing that looks like it could say ‘Fortinbras’.

 

“Ah yes! The Folio of Fortinbras!” Sir Nicholas exclaims swooping down to look at Tiffany’s find as Chester gently takes it from her. Probably a good idea, some of the letters look funny and Chester is definitely enough of a nerd to be able to read old English. Or middle English? Tiffany isn’t sure.

 

“’It is my belief that a great power is sealed inside of Hogwarts, but what sort of power, I do not know. Riches? Magic? An instrument of death? I cannot say. A group of teachers and students alike formed a circle of trust. I fashioned an artefact to seal the identity of my closest co-conspirator.’” Chester reads, and Tiffany thinks back to the note in her pocket. Both this Folio and the letter mention a group of some kind, both with a connection to the Vault… except… the group in her letter sounds dangerous, and this Fortinbras seems more curious than malicious. Besides, this Circle of Trust is from centuries ago, what are the chances of the group still being around? Someone snaps their fingers in front of Tiffany’s face, and she glares at Chester.

 

“Rude.”

 

“Do you want to keep looking for clues or not?”

 

“Only if you actually help me this time!” She says, ignoring the fact that he just helped with the book.

 

Chester insists that Tiffany keeps studying between walking from the Charms classroom to the Artefact room, and so she walks as she reads her potions textbook, and he walks behind her with a hand on her shoulder to steer her away from obstacles. Sir Nicholas happily floats just in front, occasionally disappearing into walls and reappearing. There’s a forceful tug on her shoulder, and she stops so that Chester can step forwards and open the door for her. He gives a sarcastic little bow, and Tiffany takes the opportunity to flick him on the top of the head.

 

“The Artefact Room for artefact storage! Five hundred years of my memories are stored in this place!” Sir Nicholas declares, floating around. “I was good friends with that skull over there!”

 

“Oh, um… cool?” Tiffany doesn’t want to be rude, but also the skull with earmuffs looks a little creepy. “Oh, by the way, there’s a boggart in that trunk, so don’t open it!” She warns Chester, who has already rolled his sleeves up and looks like he’s about to release the boggart by mistake.

 

“Thanks.”

 

The search is largely uneventful, and Tiffany is nearly ready to give up until Chester gives her a boost so she can climb on top of the cabinets. There are a few scrolls, and one of which is written in the same handwriting as the book.

 

“Catch!” Tiffany throws down the scroll, which Chester catches and puts to one side as he sets about helping Tiffany down safely. “Read the scroll!” She insists, making grabby hands towards it.

 

“You could show your prefect a little more respect, you know?”

 

“I’m only mean to you because you’re my friend. Read!”

 

“’Bartholomew is the new potions master. We will find the Vaults ourselves. He is the only one I trust. Bartholomew sought to learn who built the Vaults and why. His beaker holds the key.’”

 

“Of course!” Apparently ghosts have no sense of personal space as he _zips_ in-between them. “That old Potions Master was always going on about the Vaults too!”

 

“To the potions classroom?” Chester asks with a sigh. Tiffany nods. Their legs are certainly getting a work out today, that’s for sure.

* * *

 

“Got it!” Chester says, although he doesn’t sound all too confident. He seems to have taken over the search for the beaker while Tiffany rummages around in Snape’s desk looking for clues for her test on Friday. It’s not cheating, it’s being resourceful.

 

“Excellent, Mister Davies!” Sir Nicholas praises him. While he’s not much of an actual help, the ghost is certainly good for morale.

 

“Thank you, Sir Nick. I can’t read it though; it’s written in runes that we’ve never covered in class before.”

 

Tiffany picks her way over to the others, and glances curiously at the beaker. It’s made of delicate looking blue glass, and where Chester has wiped his sleeve to remove the dust are runes. It must have taken whoever made the beaker ages to do, and Tiffany doesn’t envy them at all.

 

“Hold it up so I can see, then!” Sir Nicholas commands, and Chester does as he’s told while the ghost squints at the markings.

 

“Yes, this is definitely the right beaker. Now let me see… ‘Through tireless toil, I have studied our predecessors and solved one of the great Hogwarts mysteries. Some wanted to keep us safe from the world, some wanted to keep the world safe from us. Some wanted to amass power inside the school, no matter the danger. Some had the plan to keep that power in the right hands.’”

 

“Is he talking about something in the Vaults?” Tiffany asks, eyes wide.

 

“Sounds like it… what does the spell Expelliarmus do?”

 

“Disarms the opponent, you know I know that.”

 

“Mmrrrrow!”

 

Luckily Chester doesn’t drop the bottle as he and Tiffany spin around to see Filch and his cat glaring at them from the doorway into the classroom.

 

“What’s going on in here? Up to mischief?”

 

Chester looks about ready to defend them, but Sir Nicholas swoops in front of them. Tiffany holds her tongue to watch the show.

 

“How dare you, sir? I am supervising these children,” – Chester coughs – “and we have no idle threats from you today! Be gone now!”

 

Filch grumbles, but turns and storms off when Tiffany and Chester smile innocently at him and wave goodbye. Mrs Norris trots after her owner with one last glare at them.

 

“Quick, what do the rest of the runes say, Sir Nick?” Tiffany asks, bouncing on her toes.

 

“’Each Common Room hides a house Sigil. Only a student who is true to their house can find their Sigil.’ That’s all it says!”

 

“So that means we’ll only be able to find the Ravenclaw Sigil,” Chester says, but Tiffany shakes her head.

 

“I have friends, you know. The only Sigil we won’t be able to get is the Slytherin one.”

* * *

 

“What are you two doing?”

 

Eliza watches with big blue eyes as Tiffany and Chester pull the cushions away from the sofas in their search for the Sigil, and Sir Nicholas bobs around the room.

 

“Looking for stuff, do you want to help?”

 

“Sure! What are we looking for?”

 

“A Sigil.”

 

“A what?”

 

“A Sigil! Like… Chester help?”

 

“Just look for something weird, and if you find it, let us know.”

 

Tiffany thinks that even Chester isn’t quite sure what they’re looking for. Ah well. No harm done. They replace the cushions, ignoring Sir Nicholas’s commentary on the beauty of the common room. They split up, trying to cover as much ground as possible to find this Sigil. 

 

“Oh, the floor is loose here!” Eliza pipes up, jumping on the loose stone. Sir Nicholas flies down into the ground, startling her.

 

“This is the place!” He calls out, head bobbing up out of the stone.

 

“Great work, Eliza!” Chester praises as Tiffany starts trying to pry up the stone, shooing Sir Nicholas away. Tiffany manages to snatch the Sigil with one hand just before she drops the stone with the other. Weirdly, despite being written in a language so old, it seems to… make sense? Tiffany’s only explanation for this is that it’s been enchanted so if someone worthy finds it they can understand what it says.

 

“It says, ‘There is some knowledge too terrible even for the wisest to have, and so I locked those secrets away.’ I wonder who wrote this?”

 

“It’s so… weird,” Eliza says.

 

Tiffany and Chester agree. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how much I like this chapter; the plot of the story moves so fast and trying to find a place to fit this side quest was really hard. It's also much longer than I remember, and between reading one book a day, making plans to pack to go back to uni, and periodically checking Facebook to make sure my brother is ok (he's gone to Svalbard, because... no one knows, not even him) I've maybe rushed this a little. I also might try and upload a few more chapters in these couple of weeks I have before lectures start up again, because having three word documents open is already confusing, and soon I'll have assignments to worry about too (and assignments come first, because I want to graduate with a first!)
> 
> So I hope you guys like the added Chester, you all know I have a soft spot for him. I'll continue a bit of this side quest in the next chapter, where we get Christmas time! Woo!


	13. Christmas Break

_Tiffany!_

_Bill and I managed to find the Sigil you told us to look for! It says “Even the brave must sometimes lock their fears away. Unfortunately, those fears propagate in darkness.”_

_I’m not sure what it means, but also we were talking to Sir Nick, and he said something you might think is important. He said that Hogwarts is always shifting- and that someone may have taken advantage of the way the floorplan changes. He said that the vaults might have been built around something dangerous, rather than made to put dangerous things inside? It’s a bit weird, and he’s a little bit mad, but I thought you might want to know!_

_I hope you have a good Christmas, and enjoy the socks!_

_  
From,_

_Charlie (and kind of Bill!)_

Tiffany’s letter from Charlie is enough to put a smile on her face, and she eagerly puts on the socks that had been given along with the note, before writing a quick thank you note to send back to the Weasley brothers. She barely gets to close the window before her mother is already shouting up at her to get a move on, because they have to get to Church, and her mother is already flustered as even though it should be Auntie Susan’s turn to host Christmas lunch, her Aunt’s house is in the process of being repainted so they had to switch last minute.

 

Aunt Susan is already waiting for them at the door, but to Tiffany’s horror, there is an absence of Caroline.

 

“Auntie Susan?”

 

“Yes, Sweetie?”

 

Tiffany tries her best not to scowl at the endearment. “Where’s Caroline got to?”

 

“Oh! She’s spending Christmas with her boyfriend, this year,” Auntie Susan seems very happy about this. Tiffany is not happy about this.

 

“Oh…”

 

Singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing won’t be half as fun without her who-can-sing-the-loudest competition she always has with Caroline. She makes a note to complain about this when Caroline comes over for lunch.

* * *

 

Caroline does not come over for lunch.

 

A letter does arrive though, that she has to take sneakily while her mother distracts Auntie Susan from the great big owl that’s just arrived at the house. She sneaks upstairs to read her letter, smiling when she sees it’s from Rowan.

 

_Hi Tiffany!_

_It is possible that this Circle of Trust could be the group that you were told to be careful of, but if that’s case then you ought to be really cautious. If this organisation is hundreds of years old, then that means it’s probably very powerful!_

_Regardless, have a good Christmas!_

_Love,_

_Rowan_

Attached to the owl’s leg is also a small parcel, that Tiffany opens. A wand cleaning kit, with some polish and a small cloth. She wonders if Rowan is trying to tell her something.

 

Admittedly Tiffany probably should put a little more care into her wand. It’s not like she’s broken it, though! She knows Jae Kim in Gryffindor is already on his third wand. Regardless, it’s a useful and thoughtful present, and she makes sure to write a thank you note. She releases the owl back outside just as her mother calls her downstairs again.

* * *

 

By the time Auntie Susan leaves, Tiffany has a face of thunder and has resorted to speaking only a grumpy muttering that her father finds hilarious and her mother thinks is rude. Being short with her parents probably isn’t the nicest thing; it’s not like they’re the ones who forgot about Tiffany on Christmas day.

 

Caroline’s boyfriend will regret stealing Tiffany’s cousin from her.

 

That is, assuming she finds out who this boy is.

 

A pecking at the window signals the arrival of yet another owl, and Tiffany’s father makes a comment about her being so popular while she sticks her tongue out at him, and takes the owl with her upstairs so she can read the letter.

 

_Dear Tiff,_

_I’m sorry I wasn’t able to look for the Hufflepuff Sigil myself, but I asked Diego if he could look for it while I was away, and he agreed! I also asked Liz if she could look for the Slytherin, so hopefully this means you’ll have all four Sigils!_

_The Hufflepuff one says, ‘The students must be kept safe, though the dangers be great and deadly. I sealed death around the corner.’_

_I’m not quite sure what is means, other than that the Vaults must have been created to keep people safe?_

_Oh, and the Slytherin one says, ‘I cannot resist the power, though it may kill us all. I am the only one I trust to wield it and not succumb.’_

_Which makes me think, maybe we shouldn’t be trying to find these Vaults after all? We saw what they did to Ben last year, and all this talk of death is rather frightening._

_Hopefully you’re having a good Christmas!_

_Love,_

_Penny._

Tiffany grins. Even though Penny didn’t spend her Christmas at the castle like the Weasley boys, she still managed to pull through and get her the information she needs. She opens the small present attached; a dainty necklace with a key charm. It’s pretty, unlike most of Tiffany’s clothes and accessories, but… she likes it. She writes a thank you note (and adds a reassuring ‘don’t worry about the Vaults, I’ll keep you safe!’ at the end) and puts the necklace on before she goes to visit Jacob’s room.

 

The dust is once again thicker than last year, and Tiffany should probably do something about that. In her hands is a small wrapped present; a pair of nice gloves. It’s getting harder and harder to get things that will be useful for when Jacob gets back that she hasn’t already bought.

 

“I’m going to find you,” She promises the empty air. “Even Mum thinks I can do it, so that means you’re going to be found whether you like it or not!”

* * *

 

Tiffany doesn’t bother hosting a birthday party this year; the only people who live anywhere near her are the Weasleys, and last year’s party took a lot of organising on the parts of parents to get everyone to her house in time. She still gets a stream of owls at her window when she wakes, however. It’s… nice.

 

Even if Tonks’ card nearly bites her fingers off.

 

Someone should really work on improving that girl’s sense of humour.

 

In the afternoon, Auntie Susan pops around for a cup of tea, and to drop off Tiffany’s present. Once again, Caroline is absent, and with a sickly sweet smile, Tiffany asks just where her cousin is.

 

She should have expected the answer; with her boyfriend.

 

More questioning reveals that Caroline and her stupid boyfriend are in the park, and so minutes after Auntie Susan leaves, Tiffany is wrapping her new scarf (courtesy of Andre; it’s really quite a lovely scarf) around her neck, putting on her boots, and marching out the door. Tiffany is not in a good mood, and Caroline is going to know it.

 

Thankfully her mother takes her wand just in time.

 

Definitely a wise decision.

 

It’s a particularly cold January, and Tiffany can feel the cold air biting at her cheeks even as she tries to bury her face into her scarf, which she’s pretty sure has been enchanted to keep the wearer’s neck particularly toasty. It’s not yet snowing, but Tiffany has a feeling that it won’t be long until the village children will be making snowmen in the streets.

 

She finds Caroline and boyfriend sat on one of the three benches in the park, a thermos of hot chocolate set to one side. They don’t even bother to look up as Tiffany makes her way towards them.

 

“Hey!” She shouts, arms folded in what might have been a threatening manner if it weren’t for the homemade mittens. “You didn’t come to see me!”

 

This comes out as more of a whine that Tiffany had hoped for. Caroline finally looks up, and the stupid boyfriend also looks at Tiffany with a look of surprise.

 

“Nice scarf!” He calls out.

 

“Shut it,” she snaps back. “I want to talk to my cousin, who seems to be avoiding me!”

 

“So what if I have?” Caroline asks, and Tiffany takes a step back. She’s always been close with Caroline, and while she hadn’t expected this confrontation to be all sunshine and rainbows, she had expected… something else. “I don’t have time to be playing with kids, Tiffany!”

 

“I’m not –” she has to cut herself off, because one way to make sure everyone knows you’re still a kid is to say you aren’t one. “I was really looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!”

 

“And I was looking forward to seeing my boyfriend.” Caroline turns back to said boyfriend, and nuzzles his cheek with her nose. Tiffany resists the urge to puke. Her hand itches to reach for her wand, cast a spell to split the two apart, but she couldn’t do that even if her mother hadn’t confiscated her wand before she left. Stupid Statute of Secrecy. All she can do is shout, and stamp her boot.

 

“You suck!”

 

She storms back home, slamming the front door shut and ignoring her mother calling her name in favour of shutting herself away in her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised not too long ago that Caroline is going to be increasingly difficult to incorporate into the story, and I didn't just want to have her fade away entirely because of how important she was in making Tiffany realise how important Rowan's friendship is. Thus, I had to find a way to make Tiffany not want to talk to her again, and Caroline's boyfriend came up. I've seen plenty of friendships fizzle out once one party started a relationship, so it seemed like something I could use.
> 
> Tiffany is definitely overreacting- Caroline could be kinder, yes, but new relationships are cool and exciting, and from her point of view Tiffany is never around anyway, so in her eyes Tiffany is the one who abandoned her. Also I wasn't really sure how to write this argument, which is why it's so short. Like Tiffany's temper ayyyyyye 
> 
> Luckily this does help me set up some character moments for Tiffany in year 4 - Tiffany doesn't like to be 'betrayed', which for those of you who know what happens in-game, can probably guess how well Tiffany is going to react to certain events. (And also helps me set up my Easter chapter later on, which I was trying to find an excuse for before, but now avoiding Caroline means I can do what I'd originally planned without it seeming too weird!)
> 
> I did also get to use this chapter to get all the Sigil information! I really wish we got to hear more about the Circle of Trust- it's the only other group we know of so far that has anything specifically to do with the Vaults, yet after the side quest it just seems to be abandoned! I probably won't do too much more with it, as I don't have anymore information to go on, but oh well!
> 
> Also yes this is a day early, I'm going to try and get another chapter written for tomorrow. There's still a lot of year 3 left and soon I'll be cutting back to once a week for uploads, and I want to get this year done so it's one less word document glaring at me!


	14. The Search Starts Again

“Why are you so sulky?” Rowan asks, sounding somewhere between concerned and irritated. “Was your holiday really that bad?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m sorry you had such a bad time, Tiffany,” Ben says gently. He goes to put a hand on Tiffany’s shoulder, but a glare makes him rethink his actions. “Maybe looking for clues will help cheer you up?”

 

“What are we looking for anyway?” Tonks asks, a little louder than she should, considering they’re in the process of entering the library. She’s transfigured her hair to the same shade of ginger as the Weasley boys, and has been trying to steal Ben’s robe off of him so she can pretend to be a Weasley for the day. She is yet to be successful, but it is somewhat amusing seeing her attempts at being stealthy when she has two left feet.

 

“Jacob thought the next Vault was somewhere in the library, so we need to look out for anything that looks out of place,” Tiffany says. She might be in a foul mood, but she’s still almost a capable leader. Or at least, she’s still able to boss people around. It’s the same thing, really. “If you see things that do look odd, try using revelio on it to see if it’s a clue of some kind.”

 

“Just be careful!” Penny warns, looking tired. “If Madam Pince catches us casting spells in the library, we’ll get kicked out.”

 

Tiffany nods in agreement. “Now… we’ll split up in pairs, just in case we uncover any boggarts by accident… Andre and Tonks, you can be one team” – they move to stand next to one another – “Ben and Penny, you’re another team. Bill and Charlie, you guys can look together, and Rowan, you’re with me.”

 

The teams split up, and it isn’t long before Tiffany and Rowan can hear Andre trying to shush Tonks and get her down from where she’s climbing on top of tables to ‘see the ceiling better’. Rowan and Tiffany are busy pulling all the books on herbology off of the shelves to see if they trigger anything when there’s a gasp of fright, followed by a chuckle and the riddikulus charm that sounds like it comes from the Weasley brothers. Tiffany makes a start on replacing all the books on the shelf, with guidance from Rowan who makes sure books stay in the right order.

 

It’s Ben and Penny who find the first clue, quickly gathering everyone together, Penny hands Rowan a note, written in code.

 

“This is definitely from Jacob, it’s the same code as before,” Rowan says. “I’ll read it later.”

 

“What do we do now? We’ve searched everywhere and all we have is this note.”

 

“We haven’t searched everywhere, there’s still the restricted section!” Rowan points out. “But we need a teacher’s note to get in.”

 

“Why don’t we just sneak in now, Pince looks busy!” Tonks points at the librarian, who sure enough is busy scolding first years.

 

“We could climb over the fence!” Charlie suggests, looking like he’s about to do just that before Bill grabs him by the arm.

 

“Not in front of so many people!” Tiffany says, folding her arms. Admittedly, it could work if someone caused a distraction while the others snuck in, but Tiffany would rather be cautious. She got in enough trouble with McGonagall last year for sneaking into the first Vault, and she’d rather not have to spend another two weeks writing lines every night.  

  
“I heard some of the books in the Restricted Section could jump off the shelves and bite you in the face!” Ben whispers, eyes wide with terror. Everyone sighs. This is one rumour that’s probably true, but it’s still annoying to hear Ben whine.

 

“We won’t make you go in if you don’t want to, Ben,” Penny says gently.

 

The conversation comes to an abrupt end when Madam Pince makes her way over to their group, and throws them out of the library for talking.

* * *

 

The corridor that contains Jacob’s old room is typically deserted, which is why Tiffany nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees Merula leaning against the wall, waiting for her.

 

“Read any good books lately, Pemberton?

 

“Yeah actually, it was called ‘How not to be a bitch’, you could really benefit from reading it!” Tiffany regains her composure quickly enough, folding her arms and glaring at her nemesis who stands up straight to walk towards her, mirroring her pose.

 

“I saw you in the library the other day. Nice to see you’ve got your own little gang. I suppose that’s where you think the next Vault will be,” Merula says.

 

“Yeah.” Tiffany grins as she admits this, noticing how Merula manages to work herself into a state.

 

“Why are you admitting it? Are you trying to trick me?”

 

Tiffany just shrugs in response. “Think whatever you want, Merula. I’m going to see Tulip now, so bye!”

 

“She’s going to stab you in the back!” Merula shouts after her as Tiffany continues towards Jacob’s room. Tiffany just raises her middle finger in response and slips inside, leaving Merula fuming alone in the corridor.  

Jacob’s room has barely been tidied at all, and Tiffany instantly sneezes as she breathes in more dust than she thinks is healthy. Tulip giggles as Tiffany sneezes thrice more in succession.

 

“You didn’t think to clean while you were holed up in here?” Tiffany whines, punctuating her sentence with a cough. “Anyway, why couldn’t we talk in the dorm?”

 

“I didn’t want anyone to overhear us,” Tulip says, ignoring Tiffany’s displeasure at the dusty surroundings. “Has Merula gone? She was trying to spy on my from the corridor.”

 

“Yeah, she’s gone now.”

 

“Did you tell her anything?” Tulip looks concerned.

 

“Nothing she seemed to believe!” Tiffany grins. “She thought I was trying to trick her. Have you found anything interesting in my brother’s notes?”

 

“Honestly, it’s such a mess I’ve not had much success, but I did find this!”

 

Tulip hands over a scrap of parchment that looks like it’s been torn off the bottom of some other work; possibly a note scribbled in class that he then had to hide from a teacher?

 

_The book opens the way._

“Your brother has truly awful penmanship, you know?” Tulip comments once Tiffany’s read the short note. Tiffany tries to ignore her blush, because she knows her own handwriting isn’t much neater. It’s not her fault quills are awful! Muggle pens are far superior.

 

“This could be talking about the book I found with the others last year when we entered the Ice Vault,” Tiffany says. “It must somehow open the next one.”

 

“Excellent! Meanwhile, I may have a solution to our Merula problem!”

  
Personally Tiffany thinks her own personal solution of punching the Slytherin’s teeth in would do the trick, but she’s willing to listen to Tulip’s plan regardless. Besides, going up against Merula would likely only draw Ismelda into the fray, and Tiffany would likely have ended up in the Hospital Wing last year if Bill hadn’t stopped Ismelda from firing at her when she wasn’t looking.

 

“Let’s hear it then.”

 

“Barnaby Lee.”

 

There’s a pause. Tulip looks pleased with herself, Tiffany just feels a little lost.

 

“What about him?” Tiffany prompts.

 

“He’s the toughest wizard in the year, and he knows Merula better than anyone save perhaps myself and Ismelda,” Tulip says, smiling. “If we can persuade him to join our cause, we can use him to stay one step ahead of Merula!”

 

“Okay, that’s… not the worst idea,” Tiffany agrees, it’s certainly better than plans Rowan’s come up with in the past, “but how do I get him to join us?”

 

“I know first-hand how tiresome it gets when Merula is ordering you around all day. I’m sure Barnaby is getting sick of it too. I’ll see if I can convince him to talk to you!”

 

“Why don’t you talk to him?” Tiffany asks, “He already knows you!”

 

“Because, Tiffany Pemberton.” Tulip grins. “That would be too easy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's noticed, I've split the Barnaby Lee chapter! I might end up regretting this, but the original drafts of this chapter also contained part of the Rita skeeter side quest, and was reaching over 6000 words before it was even finished. So I've moved the side quest out, and split the chapter in two in hopes that they're not ridiculously long. As it is this chapter is now slightly shorter than I'd hoped, but it's not the end of the world! Maybe one day I'll learn how to describe things in more than two sentences. That'd be nice. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


	15. Barnaby Lee

It’s a rare occasion for the Great Hall to be quiet during mealtimes, and this is certainly not one of them. Tiffany enters, flanked by an excitably Rowan and Tonks who are discussing the merits of various plants; the former totally unaware of the latter’s intended use of stinksap. Penny and Andre trail along behind, heads together and gossiping fiercely. A voice to Tiffany’s left halts her in her tracks, and she quickly ushers the others on as she takes a step towards Barnaby Lee, whose face is twisted into a confused look, otherwise known as his natural expression.

 

“Yes?” Tiffany prompts when the tall Slytherin shuffles awkwardly in place. “I have things to do, so if you have something to say then please say it.”

 

“I smell like a dungbomb!” He whines.

 

“Yes, I know,” Tiffany says, doing her best not to wrinkle her nose. A feat mastered after a life time of living in the West Country; for some people spring smells like flowers, for Tiffany it smells like manure.

 

“I’ve had more baths since I got hit with that dungbomb than I’ve had in my whole life, but I still stink.”

 

“Are you sure it’s the dungbomb making you smell? You do spend a lot of time with Ismelda, and I don’t think she’s ever taken a shower in her life,” Tiffany quips.

 

“By the way, Tulip promised me a box of peppermint toads if I spoke to you.”

 

Tiffany squints briefly, trying to think why Tulip would want Barnaby to talk to her, before remembering the plan. “Oh yeah! We want you to come with us, rather than Merula.”

 

“Why would I do that? Merula’s already promised me that she’ll make me stronger,” Barnaby says.   


“By doing what, bossing you around and insulting you all the time?”

 

“You insult your friends.”

 

“Only because I love them,” Tiffany retorts. “Besides, they know I’m not serious. Most of the time. And I never boss anyone around!”

 

“But Merula said that she’s the most cunning witch in the school!”

 

“Barnaby, Merula can’t even successfully murder an eleven-year-old,” Tiffany sighs. “Look, you’re the strongest wizard in the year Barnaby, and I appreciate that. I could really use your help, and I think you could do with some friends who will actually be grateful for your talents!”

 

“That… does sound nice,” Barnaby agrees. A brilliant grin stretches across his face. “You know; I think I might join you after all. On one condition!”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“You have to duel me. I need to know you’re worth my time, so if you can beat me in a duel, I’ll help you find the Cursed Vault!”

 

“Oh!” Tiffany is frankly, a little bewildered, but at least she can work with this. “When do you want to duel?”

 

“After dinner, on the training grounds! I hate fighting on an empty stomach!”

 

“Great, I will… see you then!” Tiffany smiles, and walks off back to her friends. Charlie and Ben have both joined the group now, returning from their transfiguration class. Rowan shuffles sideways to make space on the bench next to Andre, and Tiffany quickly gets drawn into a conversation about the latest Pride of Portree game.

 

* * *

Tiffany slips out of the Great Hall after dinner, and heads straight for the training grounds. It’s still cold out, and she regrets not bringing a coat, but hopefully her impending duel will help to keep her warm. She’s been running strategies through her head, and hopes that Barnaby sticks to an aggressive strategy himself. He seems like the type to rely on strength over anything else, so as long as Tiffany remains on the defensive, she should be okay.

 

“Barnaby?” Tiffany calls out, looking around.

 

“Hey!” For someone so unreasonably tall, Barnaby has a talent for remaining hidden until he wants to be seen. “I like you, Tiffany. You’re more honest than Merula, and if you can beat me in a duel, I’ll know you’re tough!”

 

“And you’ll stop working for Merula, and help me instead?” Tiffany checks, trying to sound friendly.

 

“I’ll have to think about it,” Barnaby replies.

 

“It was your idea!” Tiffany feels like Barnaby is going to be something of a headache, perhaps even more so than Rowan’s ramblings or Tulip’s mystery.

 

“Oh. Right. Okay, I’ll do my idea then.” Barnaby scratches at his chin thoughtfully, which looks silly without any facial hair.

_Perhaps one day he’ll have a beard to stroke,_ Tiffany thinks. “Shall we begin, then?” She asks, drawing her wand.

 

“Right, yes!” Barnaby moves into position, ten paces away from Tiffany, wand in his left hand.

 

They stare at one another for a few moments, each trying to guess the other’s first move. Tiffany takes a deep breath, if this were Merula she’d already be trying to duck.

 

“Depulso!”

 

Tiffany ducks, only just in time. “Flipendo!” She misses, and ends up being hit in the chest with Barnaby’s knockback jinx; it’s significantly stronger than any she’s been hit with before, and she feels the air leave her lungs. She barely has time to recollect herself before she’s rolling out of the way of another spell, and is still climbing to her feet when she casts “Incendio!”, which sends poor Barnaby diving to the ground, where he’s an easy target for Tiffany’s disarming charm, thus winning her the duel.

 

“Are you okay?” She asks, jogging the few paces towards Barnaby where he’s trying to stop his sleeve from smouldering.

 

“I’m fine!” He reassures her, still grinning brightly. “I always thought you had to be mean to hurt other people.”

 

“Well if that were the case I wouldn’t have bruised ribs right now,” Tiffany smiles. “So, am I tough enough to work with?”

 

“Sure!” He seems content that his jumper is no longer going to go up in flames now. “By the way, do you have any plans for the Hogsmeade weekend?”

* * *

 

Luckily her denim jacket still seems to fit her, though she doubts it’ll be of any use next year. Still, she’s sure Tonks mentioned that Penny has a little sister, so she might donate it to the little Haywood.

 

“No, no you are not going out like that!” Jane protests, standing in front of the bedroom door so that Tiffany can’t leave. “You can’t go on a date not wearing any make up!”

 

“I think she looks fine!” Rowan protests from where she’s busy plaiting her hair.

 

“More importantly, Jane. It’s not a date!” Tiffany snaps, trying to push her out of the way. “Look, I’m going to be late.”

 

“If you let me do your make-up, you can be presentable and fashionably late,” Jane points out. “Besides, it’s totally a date, even if you don’t know it.”

 

Tiffany tries to push past again, but to no avail. “If I let you put lipstick on my, will you leave me the fuck alone?”

 

Jane Potts’ grin could beat the Cheshire Cat in a smiling contest.

* * *

 

Hogsmeade is busy as it usually is on the days students get to visit. There are daffodils in little plant pots outside people’s shops and houses, Tiffany’s favourite sign of spring. She pushes the door to the Three Broomsticks open, and casts her eyes around the pub, looking for Barnaby. She spots him sat at a table for two, waiting patiently.

 

“Have a seat, Tiffany! I like your lipstick,” Barnaby says with a dopey looking smile on his face. “It’s very… pink.”

 

“Jane assures me that fuchsia is trendy,” Tiffany replies drily, feeling more than a little self-conscious. She rarely bothers with make-up, except to occasionally give herself some eyeliner. Breaking into Cursed Vaults doesn’t really leave time for beauty. “So, how’d you become friends with Merula?”

 

“We have a lot in common, both of our parents were death eaters.” Barnaby has stopped smiling now, and Tiffany almost feels bad.

 

“Really?”   


“Why are you so surprised? Everyone knows Slytherins have the most interesting childhoods.”

 

“Maybe I should have been a Slytherin then.” Tiffany muses, trying and failing to not sound bitter. Thankfully, Barnaby is largely oblivious to her gloominess.

 

“Harry Potter will definitely be a Slytherin.” His smile is back now, thank the Lord.  

 

“Do you want to talk about what happened to your parents?” Tiffany asks, for lack of anything else to say. Part of her longs for Penny’s social skills.

 

“You’ll probably think my whole family is mad.” The smile is gone again, and Tiffany winces slightly.

 

“Barnaby, if anyone can relate, it’s me.”

 

“You’re going to think I’m mad” Barnaby insists, as Rosmerta sets down their Butterbeers on the table. Tiffany thanks her quickly takes a sip, unaware of the foam moustache she gives herself.

 

“People say that about me.” She reminds him. “Besides, your parents don’t define you.”

 

“My Father… he used to push me to be strong.” Barnaby shuffles awkwardly in his seat.

 

“I’m sure he would be proud of you.” Tiffany places one of her hands on the hand Barnaby has resting on the table.

 

“You already know more about my childhood than anyone at Hogwarts already.” Barnaby doesn’t move his hand away, and his cheeks flush.

 

“Possibly because we have a lot in common.” Tiffany prods, hoping to keep him talking.

 

“Do you think I’m mad?”

 

“No! You just had a hard childhood.” _Like me._  

 

Barnaby smiles again. “Thanks for listening, Tiffany. It’s nice to know there’s someone out there like me.” Tiffany is about to reply when Barnaby continues. “You know I saw the Dark Lord once…”  


Well that came from nowhere. 

 

“You really met him? You really met… V-V- He Who Must Not Be Named?”

 

“I saw him. My father met him at our house when I was just a child.”

 

“Were you scared?”

 

“At first,” Barnaby admits, “but my father admired him. He told me that if I could become as powerful as you know who, I could do anything. I’ve spent my entire life trying to get as strong as possible, Even after my Father was gone.”  


“Well I know you’re strong,” Tiffany says, “and I think you’re a good person. I’m glad you’re helping us instead of Merula.”

 

“I’m glad to be helping someone who listens to me,” Barnaby says. “Do you want another butterbeer, by the way? I’ll pay!”  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiffany, sweetheart, it's basically a date. Or at least, everyone else will think it is, so you may as well accept that.
> 
> One issue I ran into this chapter, is that the MC of the game tends to be more emotionally mature and empathetic than Tiffany is, and I still have the struggle of what dialogue I need to keep for plot and continuity reasons, and what I can cut to keep Tiffany in character. It probably doesn't help that this was one of the first chapters I wrote, and I went pretty much word for word from the game, as I played, including the little mini-game type bit. I've done a little editing, so hopefully it's all okay and flows better than before!
> 
> Barnaby is also somewhat tricky to write; I adore him, because he's an absolute sweetheart, but sometimes the game makes him a bit too comedic. I can cope with "not the brightest, but well meaning" so I think I'll try to stick with that angle for him.


	16. Rita Skeeter

 

“Have you heard?” Penny asks, bounding up to join Rowan and Tiffany who are mid-gobstones game. Rowan is clearly winning, but Tiffany refuses to accept defeat (some might say she’s yet to grasp the concept). “There’s going to be a special guest at dinner!”

 

“Who?” Tiffany asks, squinting with concentration at her game.

 

“I… don’t actually know that. There are a bunch of rumours flying around.”

 

“I hope it’s someone interesting!” Rowan chirps, as Tiffany straightens up and looks around the Courtyard, eyes settling on Chester who is sat by the fountain. If she looked harder she could probably notice that his hand is resting on top of Felix Rosier’s, and that he’s rather preoccupied in private conversation. But she doesn’t.

 

“Oi, Chester!”

 

“What?” He calls back, clearly frustrated.

 

“Who’s this that’s coming to dinner?”

 

“How should I know?”

 

It takes a wonderfully patient Penny to distract Tiffany from bickering with Chester any further.

* * *

At dinnertime the Great Hall is louder than usual, and Tiffany enters walking in between Rowan and Barnaby, who quickly has to make his goodbye to join the Slytherin table. Tulip and Andre are walking just behind them, arguing over who this special guest will be. Tulip is convinced they’ll be visited by the owner of Zonko’s, while Andre argues about some Quidditch star he seems to have developed a crush on in the past few months. They all end up sitting next to a small group of second years, and little Eliza perks up immediately as Tiffany takes a seat next to her.

 

“Who do you think it’s going to be, Tiffany?” She squeaks.

 

“I think… it’s going to be an auror,” Tiffany decides. She’s probably wrong, but she almost said ‘You-Know-Who’ before realising that the younger students might panic if she brings him up, so the last minute switch is rather necessary.

 

“I bet it’s going to be Gilderoy Lockhart,” Rowan says with a dreamy sigh, as some of the older students further down the table giggle, but seem to nod their heads in agreement too.

 

The Hall goes quiet as Professor McGonagall steps to the front of the room to address the school, and clears her throat loudly. She pauses, eyes scanning the hall for anyone misbehaving before she starts to speak.

 

“Everyone, please turn your attention to the podium, and give a warm welcome to our special guest, Rita Skeeter!”

 

A door near the teachers’ table opens, and out steps the woman that Tiffany learned to hate as a child. Overly styled blonde hair, ridiculous shoes, and a garishly pink outfit and all, Rita Skeeter, the woman who turned her brother’s disappearance into a conspiracy theory, has come to Hogwarts. Rita’s heels click against the floor as she takes McGonagall’s place at the podium, and Tiffany can’t help but curl her lip in disgust, ignoring the concerned glances thrown her way by her friends.

 

“As Professor McGonagall so plainly stated, I am Rita Skeeter. As I am sure you know, I am a wildly popular writer for the Daily Prophet! The wizarding world is absolutely buzzing about what’s happening within these walls, and I don’t just mean the Cursed Vaults,” Rita looks annoyingly smug about being here. Tiffany hopes she gets the chance to smack her. “They say this is the most promising assemblage of students in years, and my rabid readers are desperate for details. What school subjects do you adore? What challenges do you face? Who is the brightest star in this veritable galaxy of magical talent? Professor Dumbledore has given our periodical permission to not only observe, but concoct a friendly competition. A test of sorts to determine which of you deserves to be recognised as the most promising witch or wizard in the world. The winner will receive great rewards of course; beginning with a front page article in the Daily Prophet penned by yours truly. Good luck, my wonderful young hopefuls. I will be seeing you in your classes, and rest assured I will be watching!”

 

She practically skips away to a thin round of applause that Tiffany refuses to take part in. Tulip also seems to be glaring after her, while the younger students nearby watch the two girls with concern, but show no sign of wanting to interfere.

 

“What’s got your two’s knickers in a twist then?” Andre asks with a sigh.

 

“Rita Skeeter is a massive bitch!” Tiffany snaps.

 

“She’s a lying cow!” Tulip agrees. “And she’s not even good at it.”

 

Rowan glances between them awkwardly. “Do you guys want to talk about this at all?”

 

“No.”

 

Despite Tiffany’s reluctance to talk, Rowan’s gentle hand placed on hers is still a welcome gesture.

* * *

 

There are cats sat on everyone’s desks, most of them curled up asleep. Tiffany pets the cat sat at her desk absently, smiling as it starts to purr. McGonagall strides into the Transfiguration classroom with Rita Skeeter behind her, making half the class groan. Professor McGonagall looks equally as displeased with the turn of events, however; which is somewhat of a relief.

 

“Rita Skeeter will be joining us today, so I ask that you all be on your best behaviour.” McGonagall sends a glare at Tulip, who is studying her nails and refusing to make eye contact. She continues, “Even though our guest won’t likely be. You have all seen what happens when a transfiguration goes awry, so please concentrate to avoid the same mistake.”

 

“Although,” Rita starts, stepping forward, “horrific mistakes always make for a more interesting story.”

 

McGonagall glares, and Tiffany has to bite her lip to stifle her giggles as Rita looks, even if for just a second, rather terrified. Unfortunately, she recovers from her scare all too soon.  

 

“Oh, forgive me for interrupting, Professor.” Rita apologises, hand over her heart in fake sincerity. “Carry on children! Don’t be afraid to fail miserably!”

 

McGonagall looks like she really, really wants to roll her eyes.

 

“Today we will be revising the spell felifors, if I could have a volunteer to demonstrate?” McGonagall asks. Tiffany raises her hand after a few moments of awkward silence as everyone turns to look at her, despite Tulip easily being her equal in this class. “Miss Pemberton, if you would.”

 

Tiffany grabs her wand, and casts the spell, turning the cat into a cauldron. Rowan looks impressed, as though she hasn’t seen the spell cast many times before.

 

“Well done, Miss Pemberton.” McGonagall is about to continue the lesson but she is interrupted.

 

“This child just turned an animal into a receptacle, I realise we see this sort of thing every day, but it is impressive nonetheless! You could be a bit more effusive in your praise, is that not right, Tiffany?”

 

Tiffany scoffs a little rudely at Rita. “No? I don’t expect effusive praise for following instructions. Professor McGonagall is just being true to herself; she’s one of my favourite Professors.”

 

McGonagall smiles at her, looking rather proud despite Tiffany’s disrespect towards the Special Guest. “Thank you, Miss Pemberton. Your affirmation is unnecessary, but appreciated, and your felifors flawless. Ten points to Ravenclaw.”

 

For some reason, Rita Skeeter seems impressed with this turn of events, rather than embarrassed.

 

“Well then, I think that we can say Miss Pemberton has won the round of the competition!” She leaves the classroom, hips swaying.

 

“But we didn’t even finish the lesson?” Andre says uselessly as the door shuts closed behind the reporter.

* * *

 

“Oh no!” Ben whispers, and Charlie looks equally crestfallen as Rita Skeeter strides into their charms classroom.

 

“Why don’t you two like her?” Tiffany asks, more than a little bit confused. Ben is Muggleborn, and as far as she’s aware still has little knowledge of wizarding culture, and Charlie’s family hasn’t been in any newspapers recently.

 

“She’s been asking questions about last year,” Charlie answers on Ben’s behalf as the blond boy does his best to look as small as possible.

 

“I’m just glad that I can’t remember what happened, so I don’t have anything to tell her,” Ben says quietly. “She’s kind of intimidating!”

 

“Excuse me you six!” Flitwick calls out from the front of the class. “Please do not let Ms Skeeter’s presence distract you from today’s lesson!”

 

Tiffany and her friends mumble their apologies, and let Flitwick carry on with the lesson, verbally bulldozing any of Rita Skeeter’s attempts to interrupt him. Tiffany is rather proud of her head of house, and grins as Rita gets more and more frustrated when she fails to derail the lesson. In fact, the whole class spends half of their revision session on ‘Finite Incantatem’ giggling at the reddening cheeks of the journalist.

 

“I think it’s time now for a demonstration!” Flitwick squeaks. “Miss Skeeter, as you are so eager to be a part of this class, would you please come stand in the middle of the room for me? Ah, thank you! Now, Wingardium Leviosa!”

 

There’s a horrific squawk as Rita Skeeter is lifted a good foot off the ground by the tiny Professor’s powerful spell.

 

“Put me down!” She shrieks, as there are chants of ‘Higher! Higher!’ from some of the Gryffindors.

 

“Miss Pemberton, would you care to demonstrate the general counter-spell?”

 

“I’d really rather not, if you don’t mind, sir?” Tiffany says, folding her arms lazily as Rita continues to beg to be lowered to the ground.

 

“I understand your reluctance, but for academic purposes?”

 

“Fine…”

* * *

 

At breakfast the next morning Rowan and Tiffany had been sent a note each instructing them to meet in the training grounds at lunch time, which is where they’re headed now. The chill of winter is gone from the air, but the warmth of summer hasn’t yet arrived, leaving the grounds a mild, if slightly muddy place to be. Stood around Rita Skeeter is a collection of students, including Merula, Penny, Bill, and a few other older students; most seem to be at least in their fifth year, and Tiffany can already feel a spark of dread in her stomach.

 

“Come on over you two!” Rita calls out to the girls, who begrudgingly make their way over to join the cluster of students. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve invited you here. Well, it wouldn’t be much of a wizarding competition if there wasn’t a duel!”

 

“It’s against the rules to duel on school grounds,” Rowan points out, glaring openly at Rita, along with Tiffany who does the same, scowls etched onto young faces.

 

“I’ve received a special exemption, my dear! Besides, you’re under my supervision.”

 

“You want us all to duel each other?” Bill asks.

 

“Almost, I want Tiffany to duel someone of her choosing!” Rita says gleefully.

 

“Why me?” Tiffany asks, hating her life.

 

“Because you’re obviously the favourite to win this competition,” Rita says.

 

“That’s ridiculous,” Merula scoffs.

 

“Perhaps. If Tiffany chooses to duel you, you’ll have the opportunity to prove me wrong,” Rita drones, rolling her eyes. “Of course, my sources tell me that you haven’t fared very well in your duels thus far… So, who will it be, Tiffany? One of these spiffing seventh years? Your arch-enemy? One of your fine friends?”

 

Tiffany looks around at the group of students. There’s no point in fighting a seventh year; she may be a talented duellist but as a third year she doubts she’ll stand a chance against any of them. She could duel Merula again, but… frankly she’s beaten her so many times that she’s bored of it. There’s Penny and Rowan too, except neither of them are particularly good at duelling, faring better with their potions and books. Which leaves…

 

“Bill?” She asks her friend, who looks at her in surprise. “Would you do me the honour of duelling me?”

 

“Of course, Tiff!”

 

“Well then, get to it you two!” Rita demands gleefully.

 

Tiffany shrugs off her robe and hands it to Rowan while Bill hands his to Penny. Both duellists clutch their wands in their hands, and smile encouragingly at one another. Although, as they take their positions Tiffany can swear she sees Bill look off to the group of students. She follows his gaze and her eyes land upon a pretty girl who she’d mistaken as a seventh year at first, but upon closer inspection looks a little younger, closer to Bill’s own age. Tiffany grins a little. An advantage? Perhaps. She’s pulled out of her strategizing as she has to bow, and then the duel begins as Rita lets red sparks fly from her wand as the signal.

 

“Depulso!” Bill casts, and Tiffany easily side steps the spell. He seems more focused that Tiffany expected. Damn.

 

Bill casts three more spells, Tiffany dodging all of them even as she comes up with a strategy in her head. She can’t keep dodging, it uses up too much energy and within minutes she’ll likely slow down enough that Bill can hit her. But she can’t fire at him directly either, he’s just as agile as she is. Which means she needs to find a way to distract him.

 

The girl? That could work.

 

Tiffany points her wand, but lets her spell go slightly wide as she casts “Flipendo!”

 

Bill looks smug as it soars past him, but there’s a panicked cry as the spell just misses the pretty black-haired girl, and Bill’s head whips to one side, ready to play hero.

 

Perfect.

 

“Expelliarmus!”

 

Bill’s wand goes flying out of his grip before he even knows what happened.

 

There’s a stunned silence, before Rowan and Penny start clapping. Bill turns to look at Tiffany in confusion.

 

“That was a dirty trick!” He accuses her.

 

“Not my fault you didn’t keep your eyes on your opponent!” Tiffany teases back.

 

“Impressive work, Tiffany!” Rita praises. “I think it’s fairly obvious that you’ve won this round of the competition. Now, onto the next challenges, children! Greatness awaits!”

* * *

 

With bleary eyes, Tiffany creeps into the common room, woken from her sleep by a strange tapping that she can’t locate. The room is deserted, other students in bed long ago, and a sliver of moon light shines through the window, casting the room in a pretty glow.

 

“Ah, Tiffany!”

 

She whips around, hand reaching for a wand not at her side – pyjamas should really come with pockets – to come face to face with Rita Skeeter, looking smug and just as dolled up as usual.

 

“How the hell did you get in here?” She asks, looking around wildly. The door definitely hadn’t opened, and the room was definitely empty a few moments ago.

 

“Never you mind that my dear, I was simply looking to have a chat with you before my little competition is over!” Rita leers, stalking her way over to a sofa and sitting down, patting the space next to her. Tiffany stubbornly doesn’t take it.

 

“You aren’t supposed to be in here!” Tiffany insists. “And I have nothing to say to a woman like you!”

 

“Oh tsk tsk, I got permission if you’re so bothered by my presence,” Rita says huffily. “Now first, about your brother. Are you aware of his connection to someone using the initial R?”

 

 _How do you know about R?_ “None of your business.”

 

“You are just as stubborn as they say,” sighs Rita. “Do you believe he’s alive?”

 

“I don’t need to believe anything,” Tiffany snaps. “He’s not dead!”

 

“And how do you know that?”

 

“I’m his sister, it’s my job to know!” Tiffany points out. “Are we done?”

 

“Oh, no my dear. You see, I have a wide range of talents that may be of use to you should you-”

 

“I want nothing to do with your manipulation or blackmail,” Tiffany says, folding her arms. “And I’m not going to answer your questions. If you have nothing more to say to me, then I suggest you leave!”

 

“My, as clever as you are stubborn! You ought to be my apprentice!”

 

“I’d rather choke.”

 

“I have information about your dear brother, Tiffany.”

 

“So tell me.”

 

“Not without something from you,” Rita purrs. “Tell me about your time at this school, and I’ll give you the information you want.”

 

Tiffany hesitates. There’s no harm in talking about her classes, but somehow… the look on Rita’s face is suddenly too open. How does one woman go from cunning to approachable so quickly? Never mind.

 

“I can find out my own information, thank you,” Tiffany replies coldly. “I wouldn’t trust anything you say anyway!”

 

With that, Tiffany stalks back up to her dormitory.

* * *

 

“Aren’t you excited to find out who the winner is?” Rowan asks as Tiffany decides to use her shoulder as a pillow. They sit in the Great Hall, filled with excited whispers about who is expected to win the competition set by Rita. Tiffany’s already been told by six different people that she’s the favourite to win, and she’s made a vow that if anyone else tells her that again, she’ll bash their nose in.

 

“Mmm no. Don’t care.” Tiffany yawns, trying to get more comfortable- Rowan really is very bony. “I’d rather not give her another excuse to write about my family.”

 

Tulip makes a face Rita Skeeter steps up to the podium at the front of the room, and Andre stifles his giggles at this behind his hand while McGonagall glares the room into silence so that Rita can speak.

 

“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Rita says, voice sickly sweet, “and more importantly, your enthusiastic participation in this humble competition. I told you I was here to find the most promising witch or wizard amongst a talented class, and you did not disappoint. The Dark Lord is defeated, but it’s only a matter of time before a new threat arises. We will need brave young souls like you to join the fight.”

 

This sets a nervous chatter into motion, and Rita has to clear her voice to get everyone’s attention back.

 

“Like I was saying, I’m confident that today’s winner will lead the charge, and deserves to be recognised throughout the wizarding world. Without further ado, the witch or wizard who has been deemed most promising and will be featured on the front page of the Daily Prophet is…”

 

Rowan nudges Tiffany in the side, and Tulip grins at her from across the table.

 

“Going to be announced by Tiffany Pemberton!”

 

Tiffany blinks in surprise, but Rita beckons her up to the stage so she obeys.

 

“Don’t be shy, dear! We both know I gave you a paper announcing the winner before we arrived, it’s in your pocket.”

 

Tiffany shoves her hands into her pockets, completely baffled but in no position to argue with the sly woman.

 

 _I swear to God this woman is a bloody nuisance,_ she thinks bitterly, pulling out a piece of parchment. She unfolds it, and turns it over in her hands.

 

It’s blank.

 

“Well?” Rita pushes, a grin on her face. “Don’t keep people waiting, tell us who earned the victory!”

 

Tiffany takes a deep breath. Time to let someone else experience what the Pemberton’s went through all those years ago when stories of Jacob adorned the front page of _The Daily Prophet_.

 

“Merula Snyde!” Tiffany calls out, one hand balling into a fist at her side. “Merula Snyde has earned the privilege of being interviewed by _the Daily Prophet_ and appearing on the front page. She… deserves it.”

 

A small applause comes from the Slytherin table, with a few unenthusiastic claps from the other houses. In the crowd, Tiffany can see Tulip and Rowan sharing confused glances.

 

“Congratulations, Miss Snyde! No longer will anyone let your horrible demeanour overshadow your undeniable talent.” Rita praises, beckoning Merula up to the front of the room.

 

“Thank you?” Merula has reached the front, and shakes hands with Rita. Tiffany glances over at her, and can’t help but feel smug at the look of confusion on her face. Even more so when she imagines the stories that will start circulating once the story about her is published.

 

 _Serves you right for those things you say about Jacob!_ Tiffany thinks.

 

“Now please, return to your dormitories!” Rita says to a final confused round of applause. There’s a loud noise as benches are pushed away from tables to let students out as they all filter away. Tiffany tries to leave, but sharp nails dig into her shoulder. Merula gives Tiffany a weird look as she goes to join the other Slytherins.

 

“What do you want now?” Tiffany asks once everyone is out of earshot, removing Rita’s hand from her shoulder. “And what the hell was that for?”

 

“I wanted to watch you squirm. See how you’d respond to the shock, attention, and peer pressure. It will help inform how I deal with you in the future,” Rita says. “I’m glad you chose Merula Snyde. My readers love articles about tragic children abandoned by imprisoned parents.”

 

“Like I said, she deserves it.”

 

“That she does, I suppose. You can go now, Tiffany. Just know that I’m always watching, and only a letter away.”

 

Tiffany rolls her eyes, and is half way down the hall before she remembers one last fact.

 

“Before I go,” Tiffany says, catching herself before she turns to leave. “Merula’s parents are Death Eaters. Your readers might be interested to know that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise in advance for mistakes and inconsistencies; I've been very busy lately so this has been done in bits and pieces around my uni work. Parts of this were also written months ago, so Andre especially is probably out of character at times when he's there. We still haven't got to see much of him in game either, which is annoying! We had him a bit last update though, I guess. Still, I want to see more of him!
> 
> But also YAY I'M BACK FOR LIKE ONE CHAPTER!!! This term is filled with lots of big essays and reports for me, so I haven't much other time to write this. Oh well, I'm kinda back anyway! You might get another chapter or two before Christmas, who knows? Certainly not me.


	17. Easter at the Burrow

Easter break comes round quickly it seems, and apparently making friends with the Weasley brothers was a very wise move. Most of Tiffany’s holiday are miserable or boring affairs; and after falling out with Caroline they were sure to get worse, but the day after Easter Sunday, an owl arrived at the window with a letter signed by both Bill and Charlie inviting her to the burrow.

 

And so this is how Tiffany comes to stand with her Father by the family car looking up at a building that looks like it defies any sense of safety. It seems as though it had once been a particularly large pigpen of some sorts, that the Weasley Family had kept building on top of to accommodate their large family. The ground is muddy beneath Tiffany’s feet; it had rained the day before, though now the sun shines high in the sky. Tiffany turns to her father, who gives her a one armed hug.

 

“Be safe.” He tells her, pulling away quickly. “I’ll be by tomorrow to pick you up, okay?”

 

“Yes, Dad.” Tiffany replies, already moving away to walk to the front door. She waves with one arm behind her as her father gets back into his car. There’s a face of a young girl in one of the front windows, and Tiffany doesn’t get the chance to knock before there’s the sound of feet pattering against a wooden floor and the door is ripped open as she’s attacked by two identical red heads who give a battle cry. Tiffany takes a step backward to avoid being knocked to the ground.

 

“Are you Bill’s girlfriend?”  
“Are you Charlie’s girlfriend?”

 

Tiffany looks between them as they ask her questions.

 

“Do you like quidditch?”

“Where are you from?”

“Is it true your brother went mad?”

 

“Fred and George Weasley you stop bothering our guest right now!” Comes the voice of an angry woman, who Tiffany assumes is Mrs Weasley. “That is no way to greet someone into our home! Oh, hello dear.”

 

Mrs Weasley steps into view as the twins step away from her, looking sheepish and muttering apologies. The woman has fiery red hair just like her children, and she’s quite short and plump; the opposite to her eldest son. She’s wearing a brightly coloured apron over what looks like a handmade dress, that seems to have been mended in a few places over the years.

 

“Hello Mrs Weasley,” Tiffany greets her, unusually shy, “It’s lovely to meet you.”

 

“Oh call me Molly!” She insists, waving Tiffany inside. “Now, Bill and Charlie are still busy de-gnoming the garden, but I can get you a cup of tea if you’d like?”

 

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

 

Molly leads her into the living room, where the little girl Tiffany saw in the window is. She seemed young, perhaps five or six years old. Tiffany smiles in greeting, and sits down on a comfortable looking armchair. On one wall, Tiffany could see a clock; although it didn’t tell the time. It had no numbers, but instead phrases like “lost” or “home”, or worryingly, “mortal peril”. There were nine hands, one for each family member.

 

“I’ll just get you your tea.” Molly promises, leaving. “Say hello to our guest, Ginny!” She instructs over one shoulder.

 

Ginny sticks her tongue out at her mother, which goes unnoticed by Mrs Weasley. Tiffany tries to hide a smile behind her hand, but fails, and Ginny grins proudly at her.

 

“Hi!” Ginny says, coming over to sit down on the floor in front of Tiffany. She’s holding a toy bear in one hand, that looks like one of the only new things in the house. “Who are you?”

 

“My name is Tiffany.” She replies. “Your big brothers invited me over to play quidditch.”

 

“I thought girls couldn’t play quidditch?” Ginny asks innocently.

 

Now, Tiffany has never really been a fan of quidditch, but this sentence fills her with a familiar rage; how dare someone tell this small child that she can’t play a dumb game?

 

“Who told you that?” Tiffany inquires, doing her best not to let her anger show.

 

“Fred and George.”

 

Ah, the twins who attacked her when she arrived. Figures. They probably didn’t mean harm, children rarely do, but harm is probably what they’ve caused nonetheless.

 

“Well, they’re wrong.” Tiffany tells her. “My friend Tonks is a girl, and she plays quidditch just as well as any boy can!” _Although she does fall off her broom a bit more than the others._

 

“So I can play quidditch too?” Ginny’s face lights up with a hopeful grin.

 

“You can do anything if you try hard enough, Ginny,” Tiffany says, smiling gratefully up at Mrs Weasley who appears with a cup of tea with a self-stirring spoon.

 

Mrs Weasley hands the cup over. “You seem like the sort of person who likes milk and sugar, I hope I’m right.”

 

Somehow, Mrs Weasley IS right. Tiffany didn’t used to consider herself as someone with a sweet-tooth, but over exposure to Rowan has seen that Tiffany enjoys sugar more and more, even if not to the same extent. “I do, thank you!” She says, happily taking a sip.

 

“You’re welcome, dear.” Mrs Weasley makes her way back into the kitchen with Ginny following to ask for a biscuit, and Tiffany can hear her talking to one of her other sons- Ron, by the sounds of it.

 

Tiffany manages to get half way through her tea before Bill and Charlie make an appearance, streaked with mud and identical grins on their faces and brooms in their hands.

 

“Ready, Tiff?” Charlie asks, “You can borrow Dad’s broom. It’s a little old, but it’ll work.”

 

“Two secs,” She downs the rest of her tea in one gulp. “Let’s go!”

* * *

 

After dinner, it’s not long before everyone is off to bed; the younger children being forced to bed by Mr and Mrs Weasley, and the elder three going without complaint after a long day. Tiffany is to sleep in Ginny’s room, which is a little awkward, but the younger girl is asleep so quickly that any awkwardness vanishes quickly.

 

Tiffany hears someone knocking on the door, and quietly creeps over to open it, careful not to wake Ginny as she wraps her blanket around her shoulders. It’s Bill, and he holds a finger to his lips. He gestures for Tiffany to follow him. He seems unsure of himself, like he had before when he thought he wouldn’t make prefect. They quietly make their way downstairs into the kitchen, where Bill quickly gets to work with making tea.

 

“Are you okay, Bill? You seem on edge.”

 

“How are you in the ways of romance, Tiff?”

 

Tiffany blinks in surprise. “Excuse me?”

 

“I’m obsessed with this girl called Emily Tyler. She’s not only beautiful, but last term in defence she singlehandedly stupefied an entire swarm of vampire bats!” He gushes, oblivious to Tiffany’s shock. “What should I do?”

 

“Talk to her.” Tiffany says. “Ask her how she feels!”

 

“I can’t do that!”

 

“Why not?”

 

The kettle finishes boiling, and so Bill sets to making the tea while Tiffany draws her blanket tighter around herself. Eventually, Bill finishes making the tea and puts a mug down in front of Tiffany, she curls her fingers around it, letting it warm her hands.

 

“Honestly, I just think it would be better if you talked to Emily for me.”  
  
“Merlin Bill, I’ve never seen you this timid before!” Tiffany tells him, taking a sip.

 

“I’ve never been in love before.” He mumbles.

 

Tiffany raises a sceptical eyebrow, “You’re in love?”

 

“Am I? I don’t even know anymore. What’s happening to me?” Bill nearly spills his tea in his outburst.

 

“I’ll talk to Emily for you when we get back to school.” Tiffany promises with a sigh.

 

“You won’t tell Charlie I have a crush, will you?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Or Percy?”

 

“No, Bill.”

 

“The twins?”

 

“Bill, I swear not to tell anyone else about your crush!” Tiffany exclaims, before slapping a hand over her mouth. Bill looks at her with alarm as they hear the stairs creak. Apparently Tiffany’s managed to wake someone.

 

“And just _what,”_ Mrs Weasley’s voice heralds her arrival, “are you two doing out of bed at one in the morning?”

 

“Uh,” says Tiffany stupidly, looking to Bill for guidance.

 

Bill just looks sheepish, “Sorry, Mum. I’ll go back to bed now.” He drains his cup of tea in one go, and sets it on the counter before bidding his mother and Tiffany goodnight, and jogging up the stairs.

 

Tiffany scowls after him for abandoning her, before looking at Mrs Weasley apologetically. “I’m sorry, Mrs- I mean Molly.”

 

“Oh don’t you worry dear, you’re not in any trouble! Now come on, back to bed with you.” Mrs Weasley ushers Tiffany up the stairs. There’s little room to argue, though Tiffany wouldn’t want to argue with Mrs Weasley anyway. She’s much warmer than Tiffany’s own mother, and doesn’t even seem to hold any grudge over… well, over last year.

 

“Molly?” Tiffany asks shyly, once they reach the door to Ginny’s bedroom. “I uh… I wanted to apologise.”

 

“I already said there’s no need to worry dear, I’m not cross,” She fusses back.

 

“No, no. I mean about last year. Bill got hurt by the Cursed Ice because he was helping me,” Tiffany pushes. “And I wanted to say sorry. I didn’t mean to let anyone else get hurt.”

 

Mrs Weasley smiles – actually _smiles_ – and pulls Tiffany into a hug. “Bill would have gone snooping around those Vaults sooner or later, darling. He’s too nosy for his own good,” She says. “And if the stories are true, you helped save him from that ice too. I don’t blame you for anything, my dear, but if you need to hear it, you’re forgiven.”

 

Tiffany sniffs pathetically, trying to hold back any tears. “Thank you, Mrs Weasley.”

 

The mother of seven pulls back out of the hug. “It’s quite alright. Now. To bed!”

 

Tiffany obeys, bidding Mrs Weasley good night once more and closing the door quietly. She tip toes back to bed, sliding under the covers and drying her eyes quickly before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write another scene for this chapter, actually including the game of quidditch, but I lost inspiration and I have nearly 10000 words that need writing for uni this holiday (falling sick before the end of term put me back a bit, along with preparing for Christmas; lots of cleaning and cooking was required of me) so I decided to leave it. One day I might go back and add to it, but honestly I'm not sure if I will. 
> 
> Also I'm REALLY hoping I edited this properly because in the original version of this chapter, Tonks and Andre came too! But that was too many characters to keep track of, so I got rid of them in the end. 
> 
> Hope you're all well, and if you're reading this at the time of posting that you all had a happy and safe Christmas! I'll see if I can get one more chapter out before my term starts again, so hopefully I'll see you all soon! 
> 
> (also I wrote a quick fic for the Brokenwood Mysteries the other week, so if anyone wants to check that out- or even watch the show! If you're in the UK you can watch the whole thing on UKTV Play. It's a really nice murder mystery series set in New Zealand, and I really recommend it!)


	18. Final Preparations

After Easter break, Tiffany’s main priority is meeting Tulip. It feels like an age ago when she was last in Jacob’s secret room, but she finds herself there again almost immediately after returning to the castle.

 

“Welcome back, Tiffany Pemberton.” Tulip says, standing up from where she had been sat cross legged on the dusty floor. “Congratulations for getting Barnaby Lee on our side.”

 

“Well you know,” Tiffany replies, smiling, “only took beating him up on a duel to get him to help us.” In truth she’d almost forgotten about that part of the plan, what with Rita Skeeter’s nonsense and the Easter holidays having gotten in the way of their search for the Vault.

 

“Excellent! We’re going to need all the help we can get. We need to lure Madam Pince out of the library, find the vault in the restricted section, and make sure Merula doesn’t interfere.”

 

_And that’s before we face whatever is in that vault._

Tulip looks thoughtful, “Hopefully, Barnaby will be able to take care of Merula… on another note; how is your relationship with Madam Pince?”

 

“She thinks I’m thoughtful, so I’d say she sort of likes me?”

 

“We need to get her out of the library to get into the restricted section. Someone will have to create a diversion. Who do you think will be the best at getting rid of Madam Pince?”

 

Tiffany pauses, thinking. “Rowan. Everyone else can keep watch for the professors, and warn us if they’re coming our way.”

 

“Perfect! Get ready to enter the next vault while I make my final preparations.”

 

“How long is that going to take, Tulip?”

 

Tulip just shrugs. “Could be a day, could be two weeks.”

 

“Right…” Tiffany sighs. “Well, see you later, Tulip.”

 

There’s a strange feeling of foreboding that Tiffany feels when she leaves, and she briefly wonders if she should listen to Merula’s advice. She puts this out of her mind however, and dodges a group of first year Hufflepuffs as she walks along the corridor only to run into Bill, who grabs her by the arm and drags her off to one side.

 

“You know how you said you’d speak to Emily for me?” He hisses, trying to keep his voice down.

 

“Yeah?” Tiffany makes no such efforts.

 

“She’s in the courtyard, if I point her out to you…”

 

“I’ll go speak to her now.” Tiffany agrees, beginning to feel Bill’s nerves rub off on her. “Lead the way.”

 

Bill does so, and Tiffany has to nearly jog to keep up with this long strides. It’s late evening now, and when they head outside there are few students around; most of them tired after a long journey back to school. Tiffany notices a girl dressed in pink sat by the fountain. Her hair is dark and her lips are plump and red; Bill points her out immediately, though he tries to hide out of sight.

 

“There she is!” He hisses, and Tiffany doesn’t have time to think of a plan before she’s being pushed towards Emily.

 

Tiffany takes a deep breath, and walks towards the remarkably pretty girl.

           

“Excuse me, are you Emily Tyler?”

 

She can’t help but feel a little out of her depth; Emily is gorgeous, and she’s dressed up. Tiffany on the other hand, is wearing worn out jeans and a white t shirt that doesn’t even fit properly.

 

“I am. You’re that Cursed Vault kid, Tiffany Pemberton. What can I do for you?” She asks, setting down the book she was reading.

 

“Well, I’m a friend of Bill Weasley’s…” Tiffany can feel her face start to go red, she hadn’t anticipated this being as awkward as this.

 

“Okay?”

 

“He fancies you, and wants to know how you feel about him.”

 

This seems to startle Emily. “Bill Weasley fancies _me_? I don’t believe it.” Emily is blushing now too, and fanning her face with her hand.

 

“It’s true, I haven’t seen him this frazzled since he was trapped in the cursed ice.”

 

“I’ll look like a fool if this is some sort of joke. Here, sit down. Tell me everything that Bill said he likes about me.”

 

Emily scoots over to one side and pats the space next to her until Tiffany sits down next to her. Emily clasps their hands together, and Tiffany feels her heart race a little.

 _Romance is more complicated that advanced arithmancy…_ Tiffany thinks a little bitterly.

 

“Well you see, he said that… he thinks you’re pretty,” Tiffany agrees with his judgement on this one, “and that you’re really cool; he liked the way you took down those vampire bats in defence against the dark arts?”

 

Emily’s face lights up briefly, before settling into uncertainty again. “I still can’t believe Bill Weasley likes me.”

 

“Believe it, he’s usually always really cool, but he’s a complete mess right now because of you.”

 

“What a prat.”

 

Tiffany is shocked. This was… unexpected. After all that blushing and gossiping, this is… odd.

 

“What the fuck?” She exclaims, taken aback.

 

“I mean, he’s reasonably handsome, but why would anyone date a Weasley?”

 

The butterflies in Tiffany’s stomach have magically vanished.

 

“That’s my friend you’re talking about.” She says, hands balling into fists and blood pounding in her ears.

 

“Your friend is poor, ill-mannered, and completely delusional if he ever though he had a chance with me. Tell Bill I said thank you for sharing his feelings. If nothing else, it was a good laugh.”

 

Tiffany can feel her anger rising, and tries to control her temper with deep and even breaths, but that last comment was, in all honesty, a step too far.

 

She pulls back her arm.

 

And smacks Emily Tyler across the face, sending her into the fountain with a satisfying splash.

 

There are gasps heard all around the courtyard, but Tiffany ignores them, choosing instead to rise to her feet and glare down at the girl.

 

“Bill is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting,” Tiffany spits at her. “You’re nothing but a gossiping rodent!”

 

Emily pushes her damp hair out of her face and rises to her feet, making to get her revenge against Tiffany. Tiffany starts to prepare herself for a fight, before she feels a pair of arms around her waist lifting her off the ground and removing her from the scene.

 

“Hey!” She protests, kicking her feet in an attempt to get down.

 

“Cool it, Tiff,” Bills voice murmurs in her ear. “Let’s not make this into any more of a spectacle than it already is.”

 

Admittedly, he’s right. As she gets carried out of the courtyard she can see Ellie Johnson and Connor Murgatroyd from her year looking at her with wide eyes of shock and maybe even mild-appreciation. She raises a hand to wave pathetically at them, and they awkwardly wave back at her until she’s out of sight.

 

Bill finally lets her down to the ground, and gives her what is surely a patented older brother look. “You shouldn’t have hit her!”

 

“But she was horrid about you!” Tiffany protests, “She got me to reveal all your secrets, and then started spouting all that petty hate! What sort of friend would I be if I let her do that?”

 

“A sensible one,” Bill sighs. “Thank you for defending my honour, but try not to get into any trouble when you do, okay?”

 

Tiffany pouts, but acquiesces. “Fine. But… Bill?”

 

“Yes, Tiff?”

 

“You can do way better than her.”

 

Bill sighs again, and looks back over his shoulder. Tiffany peers around him, and spies Emily Tyler being calmed down by William Bell and a few other fifth years, all trying to help dry her hair.

 

“You know, Tiff? I think you might be right.”

 

* * *

 

Tiffany heads down to the training grounds with Rowan to practice magic. A few days have passed since the embarrassing show down with Emily Tyler, and she’s grateful that Bill doesn’t have to endure anymore teasing over his old crush. In all honesty, the worst part of the whole ordeal for Tiffany was having to have Bill fix her hand; Tiffany may be a talented dueller, but hand to hand combat is apparently not a forte of hers.

 

“Did you know that Emmie Bell saw a boggart in the library yesterday?” Rowan asks as they head down a flight of stairs. “Connor’s the one who got rid of it. I didn’t even know he knew the spell to do that!”

 

 “Yeah,” Tiffany says absently, “Hey, Rowan? Are you up for helping me get into the next Vault?”

 

“Of course! What do you need me to do?”

 

“I need you to distract Madam Pince so we can sneak into the restricted section and find the vault.”

 

“I’ll work out a way to get rid of her!” Rowan promises, glowing with pride.

 

Tiffany forgets, sometimes, that Rowan is very loyal. She nearly feels like a bad friend. “Will you help me practice my spells? I want to be ready for whatever is inside the vault.”

 

“Of course! I’ll test some of the new wand techniques I’ve read about!” Rowan gushes.

 

They practice for an hours, and Tiffany feels more out of breath than she was expecting to. She’s starting to think that maybe Rowan’s been practicing duelling over the Easter break without telling anyone. The bruises on her butt would be a testament to that theory, as well as the smug expression on her best friend's face. Tiffany wants it noted that she still won more duels than Rowan, though, even if it was a harder feat than it should have been. 

 

“All of your studying seems to have paid off.” Tiffany says, sitting down on the grass with a wince of pain. “You’re a better duller than I remember.”

 

“Well I learned from the best, Tiffany. Or actually, Dumbledore is the best, but you know. You’re a close second.”

 

“I knew I made the right choice when I picked you to come with us,” Tiffany says, leaning her head against Rowan’s shoulder once her friend joins her on the grass. Rowan just hums in agreement, enjoying a few moments of peace.

 

"Hey, Tiffany?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Should we get to class?"

 

"Oh shit."

 

They both leap to their feet in haste, and start running back to the castle at full speed, ignoring the glares they receive from the other students that they nearly knock over on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy I did manage to get a 2nd chapter out before the end of the year! Go me! 
> 
> Quick changes I made to this chapter: it originally followed the game a lot more closely, but I remembered wanting to slap Emily Tyler in game, so I figured I'd let Tiffany actually do it in the end! 
> 
> Other changes: I've realised that I'm not too good at setting the background for stuff, so I've taken a leaf out of Mr_Pinniped's book, and borrowed (with permission) some characters from a discord server I'm in, so you'll see some names start popping up now besides Jane and Lottie! I did also go back and fix the sorting scene to fit one of the characters in- I avoided going through the whole sorting though so the rest you'll just have to get used to ;) (maybe one day I'll learn to be patient when I write and wait until I have the full picture before I show my work)
> 
> Other people’s Characters:
> 
> Connor Murgatroyd: Mr_Pinniped (also writes HPHM fic)  
> Emmie Bell and Ellie Johnson: NightAngelRises (also writes HPHM fic)  
> Katherine Park: Dia  
> Ivan Ahlgren and Arista Blackwood: Ali  
> Elizabeth Keys: Liz  
> Gilbert Nathaniel: BW  
> Alexandria Smith: Patricia 
> 
>  
> 
> Happy new year to all reading at the time of posting! I hope we can all have a wonderful (and productive) 2019!


	19. The Vault of Fear

Late to Arithmancy, Tiffany slides in next to Ivan Ahlgren, a small Slytherin boy who she thankfully has no quarrel with. Professor Vector glares at her, but Tiffany only smiles sweetly and shrugs her shoulders. The lesson has barely begun after all, most people still rummaging around in their bags to get the right textbook out. A quick glance around the room shows Tiffany that Penny is missing, but then she remembers the date and calms a little.

 

The lesson passes quietly for the most part, but about halfway through, when Professor Vector’s back is turned, a note lands on her desk, Tulips tidy writing inside.

 

_Tonight._

“What does that mean?” Ivan asks in a whisper. Tiffany just winks at him and puts a finger to her lips. He rolls his eyes at her.

* * *

 

Tiffany arrives to the library with Rowan and Tulip by her side. They meet Barnaby at the entrance, still dressed in his uniform.

 

“Are you ready to break another Cursed Vault, Tiffany Pemberton?” Tulip asks, now that the whole gang is together.

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Tiffany replies with a charming grin despite the butterflies in her stomach.

 

“You’re our leader. Your brother would be proud.” Tulip smiles at her, and they shake hands.

 

Tiffany turns to Barnaby. “Are you sure you want to do this, Barnaby?”

 

He smiles widely. “Of course!”

 

“Fair enough, Rowan?” Tiffany briefly wonders if Rowan is going to back out before she replies.

 

“In all honesty, I’m more worried about losing my library privileges.”

 

“Good. I brought the book we found inside the ice vault.” Tiffany pats her pocket to demonstrate.

 

“All right. Let’s go over the plan; Rowan will distract Madam Pince. Once she’s out of the way, Tiffany Pemberton and I will hurry to the Restricted Section, and find the entrance to the vault. If Merula tries to interfere, it will be Barnaby’s job to hold her off.”

 

“I got the best job!” Barnaby cheers, though the girls all quickly shush him.

 

“As soon as we’re inside the vault, I’ll take the lead and break the curse on the door.” Tiffany finishes. “We should go now; we can do this guys!”

 

Rowan heads inside first, and approaches Madam Pince. The other three duck behind a bookcase and watch on as the librarian approaches Rowan, holding their breath in anticipation.

 

“What are you doing here, Miss Khanna? The Library is closed for the night.”

 

“As you know, no one is a bigger supporter of the Hogwarts Library, and your work, than me, Madam Pince.” Rowan says, smiling innocently.

 

“I’ve always considered you to be one of our least reprehensible students. If you do not leave now, that may change.”

 

“I remembered I left my self-inking quill on a scroll in the farthest row. By now, it may have ruined every book in that entire shelf.” Rowan looks down at her shoes for good measure, mumbling a little in a show of shame. Madam Pince looks furious.

 

“How could you? I have to remove it immediately!” with that, she runs off.

 

“As if I would ever ruin a book.” Rowan says smugly, as the others walk up to her.

 

“Not bad, bookworm!” Tulip praises quietly.

 

“I’ve read my fair share of practical joke books.” Rowan confesses. Tiffany taps her foot impatiently.

 

“Pince won’t be gone for long. Let’s get to the Restricted Section!” Tiffany reminds the group, and they quietly walk to the grand gate blocking their way. Tiffany is about to cast the unlocking charm when someone coughs behind them. They turn around to see Merula and Ismelda, arms folded and looking very pleased with themselves.  

 

“Following me again, Pemberton?” Merula asks.

 

“I am literally here before you.” Tiffany deadpans. “What do you want?”

 

“I want what’s inside the Cursed Vault. Same as you, just for less pitiful reasons.”

 

“And I just want to watch you all bleed.” Ismelda adds.

 

Tiffany snorts in amusement at their theatrics as Barnaby steps forward, hands on his hips like some sort of superhero in a comic. “Walk out the door before I knock both of you through the wall!”

 

“Barnaby, idiot, you can’t fight me.” Merula rolls her eyes.

 

“It’s my job to fight you. Isn’t it?” He directs the question at Tiffany, who shakes her head.

 

“It’s okay, B. I’ve got this.”

 

Both girls take a step away from the group. Merula raises her wand to try and attack Tiffany, but Tiffany is faster.   


“Expelliarmus!”

 

Merula’s wand flies out of her hand.

 

“Oh look at that, beat you again, Merula. It’s finished.” Tiffany drawls, bored.

 

“Finished? I haven’t even started.” Ismelda sneers, and Tiffany is taken aback. “Everte Statum!”

 

A blast of magic shoots towards Tiffany, knocking her off her feet and sending her backwards. Rowan thankfully manages to steady her just in time to stop her from hitting her head on the ground. Another bolt of magic shoots toward her just as she regains her balance, but Barnaby steps in the way, taking the hit.

 

“Get out of the way, idiot!” Merula hisses at him.

 

Barnaby shakes his head. “Get to the Vault!” He calls out to the girls. “It’s my job to hold them off, so stick to the plan!”

 

“Well, good on him for remembering that.” Tulip says mildly. “Let’s go! Into the Restricted Section!”

 

Tulip unlocks the doors and grabs both Tiffany and Rowan, and ushers them through. Tiffany opens her mouth to complain about Ismelda landing a spell on her and to demand an opportunity for revenge, but her surroundings make her pause. The Restricted Section is poorly lit, and covered in dust; obviously not Pince’s priority. Frankly, it’s not anything like she was expecting.

 

“Look at this place! You’d think the students would need advanced Defence against the Dark Arts training just to enter!” Tiffany wonders aloud.

 

“We’re surrounded by forbidden spells, explosive potion recipes, and dangerous secrets,” Rowan whispers, voice trembling.

 

“Your brother’s notes said that book will reveal the entrance to the Cursed Vault, but how?” Tulip asks.

 

“I don’t know, but we have to hurry. Split up, and look through everything.”

 

The girls go their separate ways, each casting lumos to light their vision. Tiffany winces when she thinks she hears a thud from the other side of the door, and worries about Barnaby. She pulls out a few books, but finds nothing except dust. She sneezes, and earns herself a glare from Tulip. She whispers a quick apology and gets back to searching.

 

She soon spots that on one shelf, there is a single book missing. This strikes Tiffany as odd, as every other shelf is completely full. She pulls the book from the other Vault out of her robes, and carefully slides it into place. All three girls jump as three bookcases start to rise up and reveal a large metal door.

 

“You did it, Tiffany Pemberton!” Tulip cheers. They hear footsteps and a ruffled looking Barnaby makes his way to them.

 

“I got rid of Merula and Ismelda, but I know them, and they’ll run straight to Snape.” Barnaby confesses.

 

“Then we’d better enter the Cursed Vault.” Tiffany decides.

 

Rowan and Tulip step forwards to push the heavy doors open, and Tiffany slips in first when there’s enough space. Like before, the room is octagonal, with greenish lights and a large stained glass case in the middle. They all shiver at a draught.

 

“Did the other vault look like this?” Tulip asks in a small voice.

 

“Yes…. And no. It wasn’t nearly this terrifying.” Tiffany replies.

 

“I don’t think the curse has been broken,” Rowan warns.

 

They look around wildly as they hear a voice.

 

“Nox.”

 

“Who said that?” Tiffany demands, stepping further into the room.

 

“Look!” Barnaby points as the room is filled with green mist, and three figures achingly familiar figures appear. They’re surrounded by her three versions of her brother, hideous and looking as dead as ever.  Tiffany’s nose wrinkles as the scent of rotting flesh drifts toward her.

 

            “Avada kedavra!” They all cry out, and the room goes white.

 

Tiffany drops to the floor and shields her face from the bright light. She lowers her arm and stands up again, her heart clenching in her chest at the sight before her.

 

Each of her friends has been taken by a Jacob-boggart. Rowan is cowering in fear as one points a wand at her, Barnaby is suspended in the air, clutching at his throat, and Tulip is being held in a headlock. Tiffany nearly turns on her heel and runs for safety, but anger beats fear.

 

She draws her wand and lets out a battle cry before casting her spell. “Ridikulus! Ridikulus! Ridikulus!”

 

With each cast, one of her friends is released while the boggarts are transformed into clowns, that soon disappear in a puff of brightly coloured smoke. Barnaby rubs at his throat, wincing.

 

“Thanks, Tiffany.” Rowan is shaking still.

 

“Don’t thank me yet, it’s not over.” Warns Tiffany.

 

“Jacob’s research talks about facing your greatest fear. You beat the Boggarts, but… maybe we should say our fear out loud?” Tulip suggests, and Tiffany is briefly reminded of why Tulip is a Ravenclaw.

 

“That could work,” Tiffany agrees. “Rita’s lies being true!”

 

“Merula!”   
  
“Failing an exam!”  
  
“Clowns!”

 

Tulip raises an eyebrow at Barnaby. “Clowns?”

 

“I can’t be the only one who thought those Boggarts were more frightening after Tiffany cast riddikulus.”

 

“It’s not working…” Tiffany trails off, before a familiar voice speaks out.

 

_“It’s too late, Tiffany!”_

 

She whips around in fright, heading looking everywhere to find the source of the voice.

 

“Jacob?”

 

_“It’s already inside you. You have to fight, Tiffany! Fight!”_

 

Rowan disappears in a puff of smoke, and as Tiffany reaches out in horror to where her friend had just stood, Barnaby and Tulip vanish too. The smoke swirls, and forms into the nightmarish version of her brother.

 

“Oh for God’s sake, Jacob. Do you want to be helpful or evil?” Tiffany mutters, trying to ignore the fact that the butterflies in her stomach from earlier seem to have transformed into something more resilient and troublesome. Her hands shake as she keeps her wand raised.

 

“There is nothing worse than death!” It declares, pointing its wand at her. Something blasts Tiffany in the chest, and she feels her knees go weak. Her head spins, and she stumbles back before casting depulso, pushing the boggart back. Another blast of magic hits Tiffany again, and she thinks she’s going to throw up. She’s forced to her knees with another blast, but she tightens the grip on her wand. She just took out _three_ of these jokers. Her jaw aches as her teeth grind against each other.

 

“You’re just another boggart.” She decides, trying to push herself to her feet. “And I am not afraid of you! Riddikulus!”

 

The boggart turns into another clown. It’s utterly ridiculous, all that fear and anxiety has resulted in this. A wave of relief floods over her and Tiffany starts laughing so hard she falls back down to the ground. She wraps an arm around her stomach, and part of her mind tries to ask what’s funny, but she’s hysterical. The world starts to fade around her as her laughter fades into giggles, and then she can feel strong arms supporting her before everything fades to black.

 

_“Pemberton!”_

Was that… Tulip?

_“Come on T!”_

_“Tiffany wake up!”_

Her eyes snap open to see the wide-eyed faces of her friends. Rowan has taken her robe off, and Tiffany assumes that that is what the soft thing under her head must be. Tulip has a hand pulled back as though she’s about to slap her awake, and Tiffany is grateful she woke up before that came to pass. She thinks she should get a t-shirt that says ‘if unconscious, please do not slap’. Barnaby is supporting her legs, likely at Rowan’s instruction.

 

“Hey guys,” She starts, freeing her legs from Barnaby and sitting up.

 

“Tiffany Pemberton, are you okay?” Tulip helps her to her feet with a surprising display of gentleness.

 

“What happened?” Tiffany asks instead of replying, rubbing the back of her head.

 

“I don’t know! You were frozen. Suspended in the air like a puppet!”   
  
“Oh. Well. Is everyone all right?” Tiffany looks around, vaguely hoping that she was not the only one, but knowing that to not be the case. Thankfully, she has no time to feel embarrassment yet.

 

“We’re fine. I don’t know if the curse is broken or not, but we have to get out of this room.” Tulip tries to tug on Tiffany’s arm, but she resists.  
  
“Not yet!” Tiffany insists. “Not until we get what we came for.”

 

On shaky legs, Tiffany steps towards the glass case in the centre of the room, and reaches a hand towards it, touching it gently. To her surprise, nothing happens. She tries again, and even tries kicking the case in frustration.

 

“Last time all I did was touch it and it opened, I don’t understand what’s different.” Tiffany turns to face Rowan, hoping her friend has some kind of idea. It’s Tulip however that spots something, stepping forward and squinting at faint writing in the glass.

 

“There’s something written here: ‘To open, a wizard must make the ultimate sacrifice.’” She blinks twice. “You have to die to open the vault?”

 

“No… If that were the case, then Jacob wouldn’t be alive to… well, whatever. I think it means you have to be willing to give up magic.” Tiffany says, reaching into her pocket already. “Jacob understood!”

 

“What do you mean?” Rowan asks

 

“Jacob’s wand wasn’t broken when he was expelled, he broke it to get into the vault!” Tiffany withdraws the broken wand pieces from her pocket, and touches them to the case. She jumps out of the way as it opens to reveal a broken arrow and a map of the forbidden forest inside. Tiffany grabs them as Tulip starts pushing everyone toward the door.

 

“If the boggarts don’t get us again, Pince or Snape will, let’s go!”

 

Tiffany stumbles as they run out of the library, feeling rather tired and that like she’d rather not run anymore. She starts to lag behind, but finds herself being supported by Barnaby and Rowan as Tulip leads the way down the corridor. The further they get from the library, the more she leans into the support, and her feet start to drag.

 

Everything feels distant, and Tiffany finds that her vision is blurry and her chest feels tight. When they reach the entrance to the dungeon she can feel herself being shifted as Barnaby passes her weight onto Tulip so that he can go back to his common room. The girls all set off again after some quiet goodbyes, but they seem to stop when they reach the stairs. Rowan and Tulip are talking about something and it sounds urgent, but Tiffany can’t focus on the words. Tulip leaves, running up a staircase, and Rowan guides her to the ground.

 

“Tiffany? Tiffany!” Rowan pats her face, trying to keep her attention. “I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Tiffany opens her mouth to respond but finds no words to say. The world starts to go fuzzy, and she’s vaguely aware of someone stroking her hair. Her breathing slows and everything disappears for a bit but then there are two sets of footsteps and someone is shaking her.

 

“Why are you incapable of staying out of trouble?” A stern face is staring at her and Tiffany tries to smile, but it feels foreign so she gives up.

 

“Chester!” She finally manages to acknowledge him with relief as she’s wrapping her arms around his neck when he bends down to pick her up.

 

Important conversations seem to happen around her, and she thinks she can hear Tulip and Chester arguing about whether or not they should go to the Hospital Wing. Rowan seems to convince him that Tiffany just needs rest, and Tiffany agrees with Rowan’s judgement. With Chester convinced, everything starts moving again, and Tiffany lets herself dose against her prefect.

 

“You’re much heavier than I thought you would be.” Chester pants between heavy breaths, and Tiffany scowls in response. She hums grumpily in response, all the fight in her system having disappeared somewhere in the restricted section of the library. Apparently the other three find this amusing.

 

Soon they’re back in the Ravenclaw common room, and Tiffany is annoyed that she can’t remember what the riddle was. Chester has set her on some rather comfortable cushions, and Tulip and Rowan try to make her stay still as she twists to see where Chester went.

 

“He’ll be back in a minute. He’s gone to get you something.” Tulip soothes, stroking her hair.

 

Chester arrives, a small vial in his hand that he gives to Rowan, passing on instructions to make Tiffany drink it once she’s settled. He then crouches down in front of Tiffany so he can speak to her directly.

 

“I need you to go to bed now, okay?” He asks, and Tiffany nods tiredly in response. “The girls will help you get ready, and then you need to drink that potion. It’ll help you sleep without nightmares.” He pokes her nose, smiling when she goes cross eyed to try and see his finger. He directs his attention briefly back to the others.

            “She should be okay, I think she’s just exhausted, though I would rather Madam Pomfrey looked at her.” Chester reaches a hand down and along with Rowan’s help, gets Tiffany to her feet.  

 

            Tulip and Rowan both help her with the steps to the girls’ dormitory, and thankfully Charlotte and Jane are both asleep when they enter their bedroom. There’s a brief struggle when Tulip and Rowan try to get Tiffany into pyjamas as she doesn’t cooperate, but in the end they settle for taking off her robe, tie, shoes and socks. By that point, all it takes is them handing the vial to Tiffany for her to drink it and immediately start relaxing into the pillows. She falls asleep instantly.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear God I hope I'm uploading the right chapter- it's been awhile since I've done this. I've edited the ending to this chapter so many times I don't actually know if I like it or not anymore, and I've been so busy between uni work and staying on top of my notes for year 5 that the earlier versions of the characters feels a little strange now. Hopefully I'll get used to slightly younger Tiff again soon enough.
> 
> Other people’s Characters:
> 
> Connor Murgatroyd: Mr_Pinniped (also writes HPHM fic)  
> Emmie Bell and Ellie Johnson: NightAngelRises (also writes HPHM fic)  
> Katherine Park: Dia  
> Ivan Ahlgren and Arista Blackwood: Ali  
> Elizabeth Keys: Liz  
> Gilbert Nathaniel: BW  
> Alexandria Smith: Patricia


	20. Among Friends

When Tiffany wakes up on Saturday morning, there is note on her bedside table from Tulip and Rowan, along with a glass of water. She sits up, and the world spins briefly. Tiffany is bewildered to find that she’s still in half her school uniform before some of her memories come back from the night before; she’d broken another vault.

 

She sips at the water and picks up the note, written in Rowan’s neat hand except for Tulip’s spiky signature at the bottom of the page. It reads;

 

_Tiffany,_

_We thought we’d head down to the three broomsticks as it’s a Hogsmeade day and we wanted to celebrate another victory. Chester said you should be fine when you wake up but we wanted to let you sleep in just in case. Don’t be too late!_

_Love,_

_Rowan and Tulip xx_

  
She smiles at the letter and puts it down so that she can start getting ready for the day. She showers quickly, using a spell to dry her hair, and gets changed into jeans and a t shirt, throwing on her favourite leather jacket for warmth. She slides into her trainers without bothering to undo the laces, and races out the door. She passes a remarkably weary looking Chester in the common room, who rises to his feet to stop her when she tries to leave.

 

“I’m walking you down to Hogsmeade.” He tells her, a sort of finality in his voice that really tells her she has no choice.  


“Why?” She asks.

 

“Because last night you nearly gave me a heart attack when your friend dragged me out to help you. Do you even remember that?”

 

Tiffany pauses and tries to think. She can remember the Vaults, and she can remember leaving. She can even vaguely remember Barnaby helping her when she fell… why did she fall? There’s another vague memory of someone giving her a potion, but nothing about who it was.

 

“Not really?” She tries to smile, but Chester seems largely unimpressed. He opens the common room door for her so she can step through, and doesn’t speak again until they’re part way down the staircase.

 

“I had to carry you up the stairs, you were so out of it.”

 

“Thanks.” Tiffany feels her throat go dry and her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

 

“You should probably cut back on the cauldron cakes if you’re going to pass out on your friends again.” Chester actually squeaks with displeasure when Tiffany elbows him in the ribs as retaliation, “Seriously though, maybe take a break from risking your life to save the school for a couple years at least?”

 

“I mean; I’m not doing it for the school.” Tiffany reminds him. “I’m trying to find my brother, saving the school is just… a side effect?”

 

“Why am I not surprised?” Chester asks, “Also, walk faster. I have a date I need to get to and I’m late enough as it is.”

 

Tiffany grins, mischief written all over her face. “So, who’s the lucky person?”

 

Chester goes bright red. “Felix Rosier.”

 

“Chester and Felix sitting in a tree,”

 

“Tiffany Pemberton I swear if you keep singing that song,”

 

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

 

“I will give you so many detentions,”

 

“First comes love,”

 

“You are the worst; you know?”

 

“Then comes marriage, then comes the- oh wait.”

 

“Ha!” Chester cries. “You can’t finish the song! Now you look like an idiot.”

 

“That’s not a nice thing to say to someone who just saved the school from boggarts.” Tiffany pouts back. Chester just laughs, and grabs her arm to make her walk faster.

 

 

Tiffany and Chester finally part ways at the entrance to The Three Broomsticks, Chester having already arranged to meet with Felix at the Hogs Head. He pats her on the head before he leaves, and she’s still scowling slightly when she enters the noisy pub.

 

“Cheers Tiffany! Good to see yeh.” Hagrid greets her, and she smiles and waves back.

 

“Good to see you too, Hagrid!”

 

A noise to her right turns her head.

 

“Oi, Tiff!” Bill is standing and waving her over.

 

Her friends are sat around a table in the corner by the fireplace. Tulip stands up to make room for her next to Ben, who is sat next to Rowan. Barnaby, Penny, Bill, and even Tonks all crowd around the table too. Tiffany notices the dark circles under Penny’s eyes, and a pang of sympathy goes out to her. There had been a full moon on Thursday, so it should be expected; if Penny hadn’t still been recovering from that she likely would have asked her to help last night.

 

“Tiffany, you made it!” Rowan smiles, while Tulip crows

 

“All hail the conquering Curse-Breaker!”

 

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, guys.” Tiffany ducks her head shyly.

 

Bill hands her a butterbeer. “Let’s enjoy it while we can. They say Professor Snape is on the warpath.”

 

“Yeah, Merula told him about Madam Pince, the Restricted Section, and the Cursed Vault.” Barnaby mourns. “She forgot to mention how I defeated both her and Ismelda.” Rowan pats him on the arm in sympathy.

 

“But I heard there’s no proof!” Ben adds happily. “Madam Pince is too proud to admit what happened, even I’m not worried.”

 

“I don’t want to say we owe it all to my brilliant plan, but…” Tulip looks particularly smug.

 

“What did you find in the vault? Is it a clue to the next one?” Tonks asks.

 

“I found a hand-drawn map of the Forbidden Forest, and an arrow that’s missing the arrow head.” Tiffany informs her before taking a long drink from her butterbeer. She pulls the map out of her pocket and shows it to Tonks, who looks at it critically.

 

“I’d wager all my Gobstones that the next Cursed Vault is in the Forbidden Forest. I know what I’ll be researching this summer.” Rowan says thoughtfully.

 

“Why is there a letter ‘R’ in the corner of the map? Asks Tonks, handing it back.

 

“I’m wondering the same thing.” Tiffany replies, and as one everyone turns to look at Ben, who stiffens in surprise.

 

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

 

“Last year, we found letters addressed to you that were signed ‘R’” Rowan tells him.

 

“And I told you I don’t remember anything after being frozen in the cursed ice!” Ben protests.

 

“You must remember something.” Rowan reasons with him.

 

“You believe me, Tiffany, don’t you?”

 

All eyes are on her now.

 

“R went to great lengths to send you secret messages, Ben. And no one else lost their memories after getting frozen in the cursed ice.” She tries to channel McGonagall and sound stern when she speaks. “If you know something, tell us.”

 

Ben seems genuinely upset. “I’m… sorry. I can’t. I don’t know anything about this R.”

 

“I hope you aren’t lying to protect us. We can’t help each other unless we know what’s going on.” Rowan scolds.

 

“I promise I’m not lying to protect you.” He insists. Bill shifts and seems to decide to lighten the mood.

 

“Let’s worry about mysterious maps and unexplained memory loss another day.” He declares. “We’re here to celebrate Tiff’s triumph over the Cursed Vault!”

 

They all raise their drinks in toast, and cheer. A few other patrons glare at them for disturbing their conversations, but Tulip sticks her tongue out at them. Hagrid seems drawn to the noise, and comes over to the group.

 

“Havin’ one last butterbeer before yeh go home fer the summer?”

 

“That’s right, Hagrid. Pull up a chair!” Tiffany invites, smiling and giddy.

 

“I’m on my way back to the castle, but I wanted teh let yeh know that there’s a lot fewer Boggarts than before. Miracle, I say.” He winks at Tiffany, even as Dumbledore steps up behind him, Rowan’s eyes go wide when she sees him.

 

“I believe Professor McGonagall instructed you to keep that information to yourself, Rubeus.” The Headmaster says.

 

“Professor Dumbledore, sir! I’m sorry, sir. I shouldn’ta said that.” Hagrid apologises. Tiffany feels bad for him.

 

“Rumour has it you’ve been gone this entire year again, Professor. Did you just get back?” Tiffany lifts her chin a little to meet the headmaster’s gaze.

 

“I did. I found who I was looking for. Here and there.”

 

Tiffany frowns in confusion, “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

 

“You’re not alone. We will discuss it further in my office. I expect to see you there tonight.”

 

Dumbledore and Hagrid leave, Tiffany scowling after the Headmaster. She’s shaken out of her bad mood by Tulip ordering another round of butterbeer, apparently to the relief of Bill who had used up most of his money on the first round. The conversation quickly turns to the topic of Barnaby.

 

“Barnaby,” Tiffany begins, “you are a Slytherin.”

 

“I guess so.” He replies, standing to help the waitress pass out butterbeers when she arrives.

 

“It’s just, Slytherins are cunning and ambitious, but beyond wanting to be strong, you don’t seem to… be like that?”

 

Barnaby goes a little bit red.

            “It’s the house my father was in. The hat actually wanted to put me in Gryffindor, said I lacked the ambition and drive of Slytherin, but I wanted to make my family proud.”

 

Tiffany takes his hand gently.  “Slytherin is lucky to have someone as strong and kind as you in its ranks.” She says firmly, and the others voice their agreement whole heartedly.

 

* * *

 

 

Tiffany let’s herself into Dumbledore’s office, letting the door slam shut behind her. He waits patiently at his desk until she’s stood in front of him before he starts speaking.

 

“This has become something of a tradition, Tiffany. Our annual opportunity to discuss your unprecedented heroics, and egregious misbehaviour. I understand that a substantial amount of mayhem transpired in my absence. Dragons in the Common Rooms, werewolves in greenhouses, Voldemort himself lurking in every cupboard. Apparently, even I made more than one appearance in Boggart form.”

“Is it true that all the Boggarts are gone?” Tiffany asks innocently, decidedly looking at the phoenix by Dumbledore’s desk rather than the man himself.

“Boggarts can never truly be banished because they are born of human emotion. Fortunately, they can even be of some use. Defence against the dark arts classes can practice riddikulus on those Boggarts for years to come.

            I’m sure a few Boggarts were nothing compared to what you faced in the Cursed Vault, however. Tell me everything.”

 

Tiffany opens her mouth, and despite her gut telling her to keep her mouth shut, she confesses to everything; using Rowan to distract Pince, duelling Merula, sneaking into the Restricted Section, opening the Vault, hearing Jacob’s voice, and fighting the boggarts. Dumbledore doesn’t interrupt, only nodding his head every so often to show he was listening.

 

“From what you’ve told me, it sounds as though someone else tampered with the Cursed Vault, releasing the Boggarts.” He comments, when she finishes.

 

“That’s my understanding, but you would know better than me.”

 

“There is someone who would know better than us both. Do you know where I have been this year, Tiffany?”

 

“Not at Hogwarts.”

 

Dumbledore chuckles.

 

“Seeing the world’s finest Curse-Breaker. One who has intimate experience with the Cursed Vaults. She was an exceptional pupil of mine, back when my beard was a little shorter. At present, she is exploring recently discovered ruins under the Brazilian wizarding school Castelobruxo. When next year begins, she will be here at Hogwarts. I will be most interested to hear her opinion of the vaults. And of you.”

 

Tiffany can’t help but gulp anxiously.

 

“You have once again disobeyed me, yet you have once again broken a curse that threatened us all. I am running out of excuses for you, Tiffany Pemberton. Break one more rule, and I will not be able to insulate you from serious punishment.”  
  
“I understand Professor, I’m sorry.” _I’m so not sorry,_ Tiffany looks down at the ground, hoping that she looks suitably ashamed of herself.

 

“Actions are far better than apologies. Take Fawkes for instance. From time to time, the phoenix is reborn- fresh and rejuvenated. You have that power too. Take the summer, and when you return to Hogwarts, start fresh.”

 

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I’ll do my best.”

 

“But before you take the summer, take one hundred points for Ravenclaw.”

 

“Thank you!” Tiffany blinks in surprise, a smile gracing her lips. Chester should get off her back now about house points. With a pang she realises that after this year he won’t have to go on about house points to her ever again. She makes a note to remember to write to him next year. Dumbledore coughs, and she startles to attention, having zoned out.

 

“You are dismissed, Miss Pemberton.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly finished with the year! Only a chapter or two to go before we get onto year 4, which... I've got so much editing to do on. I've changed my mind on quite a few things for year 4, so that's gonna take some work :P
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who reads/comments/gives kudos. I'm really very grateful :)
> 
> Also I'm too lazy to re-read this, I think I edited it a while ago so hopefully it's okay. I'm too lazy to get a beta-reader so y'know, you have to deal with this.


	21. Farewell Chester

Some days later Tiffany slips into the common room alone, Rowan having gone to the library. Since breaking the last curse, Tiffany has struggled to get any peace with younger students constantly hounding her for information on her daring adventures, and she’s rather looking forward to spending an evening alone.

 

She barely takes three paces when Chester greets her with a hug.

 

 Irritated as she is, she gladly returns it.

 

“What’s wrong?” Tiffany asks, immediately suspicious. Not that she objects to affection, she’s grown to not just respect Chester, but love him like… a brother, if she thinks about it. “Have I done something and this is just a sneaky way to break my back as punishment?” 

 

“You’ve grown up so much. Now you can look after younger students. Keep an eye on my little brother Roger when he comes to Hogwarts.” Chester pauses, and the hug ends (which Tiffany is grateful for; she’s fond of Chester but the other occupants of the room were starting to stare) “I’ve been thinking about how you fit into the future of Ravenclaw. You’re a credit to our house. After I graduate, you’re going to be the student who sets an example for the rest. I want to teach you a few things, skills that will prepare you to be a leader of our house. Come with me for one last lesson?”

 

Tiffany follows Chester without question, even though she’s had her own plans. He leads her to the training grounds, now empty due to the relatively late hour.

 

“I wanted to teach you the freezing charm, immobulus.” He tells her, “It’s served me well as a prefect- I’ve had to use it more than once when a Ravenclaw got too excited about studying. Pick a dummy, I’ll talk you through how the spell works.” 

 

Tiffany takes up a duelling stance. Chester does the same, and demonstrates the spell.

 

“You have to want the spell to work.” He explains, when Tiffany tries and fails to stop a ball of crumpled parchment he throws through the air. “Give it another go!”

 

She takes a deep breath, and does as instructed while Chester throws another ball of paper.  
  
“Immobulus!”

 

A purple light shoots towards the paper, and Chester seems pleased at the result as the ball’s descent slows, falling almost as if it were a feather.

 

“If you ever lose your class notes in a gust of wind, you can use immobulus to stop them in mid-air.”

 

“That’s kinda useful,” Tiffany admits, eyes trailing after the ball of parchment until it finally rests on the ground “But why are you teaching me this?”

 

Chester’s cheeks flush a light pink colour, and seems to refuse to meet her eyes. “You can also use the spell in a fight, and now I’m not going to be around to make sure you’re okay I wanted to give you something else to defend yourself with.”  

 

She feels her own cheeks grow hot. “What happened to wanting me to stop getting into trouble?”  
  
“We both know that won’t happen.”

 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

 

“You’ll write to me next year, won’t you? If you need any advice or if you think you’re in any danger.”

 

“Of course!” Tiffany says, “You can’t escape me, even if you are graduating into the big wide world!”

 

“Good to hear it.” Chester holds his arms open. “Come here, you little shit.”

 

Tiffany gladly throws herself at Chester, not even complaining when his hand makes its way to her hair, simply enjoying the hug. Chester is definitely no Jacob- he’s far too grumpy and sarcastic to be anything like her sweet natured brother, but his presence has certainly been a benefit to her these past three years.

 

“And one more thing,”

 

“Oh?”

 

“My little brother is going to be coming to Hogwarts in a few years, do you think you can look out for him?”

 

“I’ll do my best.”

 

“Thanks, kid.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few days later, Tiffany boards the train to go home with Rowan, Tulip and Andre. With the huge crowd heading to the station, they hadn’t been able to find their friends in other houses, despite Andre using his height to try and peer above the bustling body of students.

 

“I can’t believe we didn’t win the house cup even after Dumbledore gave you a hundred house points!” Rowan complains, leading the way to a hopefully empty compartment.

 

“I can, before you started distracting Tulip with the search for the Vaults she was losing house points like they were my socks,” Andre comments, shooting Tulip a slightly bitter look.

 

“What can I say? Tiffany Pemberton works hard, but I work harder.”

 

“Are you alright, Tiffany?” Rowan asks gently, as Andre and Tulip dissolve into bickering.

 

“Yes… I just…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I think that Hogwarts might seem a little scarier, now.”

 

“What do you mean, the boggarts are gone?” Rowan points out, as she opens a compartment door and they all head inside.

 

“I’m being ridiculous, Rowan, just ignore me.” Tiffany thinks on Chester’s request to keep in touch, and realises how difficult next year will be without him around to rely on. “So, does anyone have any exciting plans for the summer?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with this chapter- I deliberately took out the potions and herbology scenes with Chester because I didn't feel like they added too much value to Tiff's development, so now the chapter feels a bit too short. Oh well! I couldn't skip the side quest completely though because Chester is such a sweetheart, and his and Tiffany's friendship is truly important to her. He'll make some more appearances in later years as well, because I can't bear to lose him! 
> 
> Year Three has come to an end which means I can close the document finally and get to work on editing Year Four. I tell you now, guys- I'm a huge fan of Rakepick as a character, so hopefully you guys can look forward to that!


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